Fate - Outside Experience
by Benit149
Summary: Connla story #2. A three-part collection of short stories depicting Connla's life in Chaldea, and how she comes to know various other Servants. Some encounters are good, others are 'interesting', and some are... very troubling.
1. Bloodstone

**FATE/OUTSIDE EXPERIENCE**

 **Part I: Blood Thread**

 **Chapter 1: Bloodstone**

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This and any future stories involving Connla will assume that you have read _Fate/Laoch Gan Finsceal_ , so some details already covered there will not be explained here. If you haven't read it, I recommend you do so before this one so you aren't too confused.

* * *

In front of the Heroic Summoning System FATE, Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash Kyrielight stood before the altar. Ritsuka sacrificed three Saint Quartz to initiate the ritual, and the chamber was engulfed in dazzling white light. That was when a rare sight happened before them – the orbs that formed a circle shone with multiple colors before converging and exploding in chromatic particles.

"Senpai, this is-!" Mash exclaimed.

"A super rare summon!?" Ritsuka shouted elatedly.

The light dissipated, and there stood a tall figure whose red eyes glowed eerily beneath his hood.

"Wait a minute… Isn't that…?" the young Magus uttered, taking a good look at her newest recruit.

"… Does my color have something to do with you?" the man asked her in a chilly, hollow tone.

* * *

The youngest Servant in Ritsuka's entourage - the Lancer known as Connla – was busy delivering papers between Chaldea's different departments. When she wasn't out on Rayshift missions with her Master, she was put to work doing various chores around the facility. She was happy to help out if it meant allowing everything to run smoothly, even if it meant doing thankless things like sweeping, taking out the garbage, or doing the dishes. Many other Servants were not interested in performing such jobs, so she was often saddled with the simple tasks that could build up over time if they weren't done regularly.

 _I have to take these to Dr. Roman so he can adjust Master's exercise schedule,_ she thought while jogging down the long hallway.

She was about to pass by the chamber containing FATE when Ritsuka, Mash and the new Servant exited. They saw the child coming and stopped. Connla's mind went blank and her eyes shot wide open as her gaze met the man's. Her complexion turned white as snow, and her pupils shrunk into trembling dots. Standing behind the pair was none other than Cuchulainn Alter, who had just been summoned to be Chaldea's newest warrior in the fight to preserve humanity's future.

He too looked rather surprised, but murmured in a muted whisper, "It's you…"

The young girl swallowed and looked away anxiously. Ritsuka and Mash immediately recognized the tense atmosphere, so Mash held Connla's shoulders and said, "Senpai, I'll help Lancer get ready for bed. She looks a bit tired."

"Right…" Ritsuka nodded nervously and watched the pair leave.

After a moment of silence, Cuchulainn muttered, "So she's here too?"

"Y-Yeah… I was hoping to tell her first before showing you to her, but…"

"So you know our history together."

"More or less."

He sighed, then said, "It's fine. She has every right to be upset with me. I'll just lay low and keep out of sight unless you need me to kill someone. Not much else to do here except eat and sleep anyway."

"Sorry about this… Lancer's been a big help with the staff by doing menial chores, but she's really sensitive and gets bothered easily, so she tends to lose focus."

"Has she been doing good on the battlefield?"

"Yes, she's been fighting as hard as she can with the other Servants. We try not to push her too much because of her age, but she insists on trying to keep up with everyone."

"So she still needs some training. Has anyone been mentoring her?"

Ritsuka nodded slightly. "Cu Lancer trains her from time to time, but not as often as he'd like due to our frequent Rayshift missions. I saw some dreams of her past as well, so I have a good idea of how she fights."

"Hmph," Cuchulainn scratched his head in irritation. "If she wasn't so scared of me, I would have put her through the gamut to see what she needs to work on."

"Give her some time. Maybe she'll warm up to you eventually, now that you're both Servants with the same Master."

"I wonder about that."

* * *

 _A week later…_

In a large room outfitted to be a grand workshop, the genius inventor Leonardo Da Vinci was busy tinkering away on an unknown magical device. Just to be clear, the Heroic Spirit did not materialize in this world as who he was in life. Rather, he emerged in the image of his magnum opus, the _Mona Lisa_ , virtually 'sculpting' himself to be the perfect woman he had envisioned in his painting. Throughout Chaldea, it was acceptable to refer to Da Vinci as female, even though he was technically male on the inside. Perhaps it was safer to say that the concept of gender was too constricting for a mad genius such as him, and so he found a way to break through such restraints in his new life as a Servant.

Regardless, Da Vinci used a magnifying scope to inspect a stone she had been working on. Although Magecraft wasn't well-known as her forte in life, she could still dabble in the art due to her being a Caster-class Servant. She inspected every millimeter of the gemstone with fascination, looking pleased at her handiwork.

"Not quite the same brilliance as a Saint Quartz, but it'll do," she murmured to herself.

The door to her atelier slid open, and Connla entered with a service cart stacked with plated food and drinks.

"Ms. Da Vinci?" the girl asked. "Dr. Roman told me to bring this to you."

"Thank you," Da Vinci replied and looked up at the bizarrely designed clock on the wall. "My, it's already this late? I didn't really notice how hungry I was."

"Well we're Heroic Spirits, so we don't _really_ need to consume food… But some of the staff were wondering what you were doing, so they wanted me to deliver this. What have you been working on anyway?"

"It's a SE-CR-ET! Although," the woman pondered, "to be honest, I'd say it's pretty much complete now…"

"But it's still considered classified? I understand. I won't ask about it if you don't want to tell me."

"Hold on now."

Connla paused and stared at Da Vinci with a puzzled look. "Yes?"

The inventor had a playful smile plastered all over her face, and her ultramarine eyes beamed with life as she asked, "Are you busy right now?"

"Not really. Master and Ms. Mash are away on a mission, so I've just been doing tasks here and there to pass the time."

"Perfect! Do you think you could do a _big_ favor for me?"

"A favor?"

"Just come with me."

They went to the chamber containing CHALDEAS, the Global Environment Model that was a miniature replica of planet Earth. Surrounding the circular wall were dozens of man-sized blue coffins, with Ritsuka and Mash occupying two of them for their current work. Da Vinci and Connla remained a good distance from the pair so they wouldn't disturb them.

"First, let me show you this," the inventor said as she showed Connla a strange red crystal ebbing with the familiar sigil that was Ritsuka's Command Spell. "This is the culmination of my latest research, that being the concept of a Servant independently engaging in a Rayshift mission to correct issues within the Human Order Foundation."

"I'm not sure what you mean…"

"Well, think of it this way. Through the Spiritron Chassis, Masters are able to send their souls back to the past in order to correct Singularities, okay? However, since our staff and resources are severely limited, we only have Ritsuka and Mash working together to solve any major issues that SHEBA observes. Meanwhile, Ritsuka has many Servants at her command, but she is limited in the number that she is able to bring with her. The remaining Servants are forced to remain on standby here until she calls upon them.

"That's when I started racking my brain about how to utilize those Servants in similar Rayshift missions. After all, it'd be too much for only one Master to have to worry about _every single possible_ problem that manifests in the time stream, right?"

"I guess so," Connla nodded in understanding.

"So it came to me that we Servants really are just spiritual copies of Heroes and Anti-Heroes borrowed from the Throne of Heroes, meaning we're essentially high-density souls. So why shouldn't we be able to Rayshift on our own to help out with the Grand Order?"

"You mean Servants would travel to different eras and correct Singularities on their own?"

"Hmm…" Da Vinci's expression contorted in apprehension. "I was hoping to develop something like that, but the problem is that Servants are bound to their Master through the Command Spells, and Ritsuka can't send commands from one era to a Servant in a completely different time. For instance, she and Mash are in Russia during the Cold War right now, so if you were to go to, say, the Wars of the Roses in the mid-1400s, it would be impossible for Ritsuka to send you commands if you are both 500 years apart."

"Yes, I guess that would be difficult…"

"So I had to come up with a workaround for that problem, hence this pretty little stone. Think of it as a substitute for your Master."

"What is it exactly?" Connla wondered while examining the red gem. It didn't look much different from a perfectly polished ruby, although the color was more of a deep red-brown color than the dark pink hue associated with rubies.

"This is a fragment of Sorcery Ore that has been imbued with Ritsuka's blood. You could liken it to a bloodstone, though it's not really a type of chalcedony…"

"I-It's made out of Master's blood!?"

Da Vinci chuckled. "Don't worry! It's only the amount that Roman draws from her during her checkups. After the medical team analyzes her blood for any abnormalities, it's then kept in cold storage for future use. I took some samples to see if it retained any traces of her magical power, and there was enough to consider crystallizing it into a Bloodstone. The ore amplifies any traces of her magic and restores her Command Spells so that they can be used only once by a Servant who is connected to her. Once those Spells are used up, the Bloodstone becomes worthless, and a new one has to be made to replace it."

"Isn't there a way to recharge the Command Spells so that Master doesn't have to give up so much of her blood to make new stones?"

"I'm looking into that, but I'm afraid this is the best I can come up with for now. This is the very first prototype Bloodstone I made, and I wanted you to take it out on a simple field test."

"Hmm…" the girl murmured hesitantly. "I'm not so sure… How much risk would there be to me?"

"Well, you first have to establish yourself as the 'Master' of this Bloodstone, meaning you would be a short-lived Master over any of Ritsuka's Servants you bring with you. It becomes your temporary body, which I can then attach to the Spiritron Chassis and Rayshift your spirit to any desired era. When you come back, you'll be in the Bloodstone, and you'll re-emerge as a regular Servant once again."

"You mean Master doesn't give me commands through the stone?"

"I already said that's impossible. There's no way to directly connect Master and Servant when they are in completely different times. This is the next best thing; a Servant acting as a Master by virtue of possessing Ritsuka's Command Spells via a Bloodstone. Let's call these temporary Masters 'Blood Servants' to make things easier on us."

"That makes sense," Connla nodded. "So how do I connect myself to this Bloodstone?"

"Oh, you're saying you'll do it?

"I'm not really sure of how safe this is, but I'm confident that you wouldn't subject me to anything dangerous on purpose. If something does happen, I'll trust that it was an accident, and we'll find a way to fix it."

"My, you flatter me! Well then, all you need to do is to drop a tiny bit of your own blood upon the stone. It will identify you as the one-and-only Master of this Bloodstone. It also prevents anyone else from taking its power away from you. Even if they tried to drop their own blood on it, your spiritual signature will override theirs and reject them on the spot."

Da Vinci took a small needle out and pricked Connla's finger so that she could smear a tiny amount of her blood upon the face of the gem. The fluid was readily absorbed, then the Command Spells shone brighter for a moment.

"Good. You're registered as the Master of this Bloodstone," Da Vinci acknowledged.

"I feel kind of heavy…" the child murmured suddenly. Her chest felt like it had a brick or two wedged between her ribs.

"That's because the stone has become your temporary physical vessel. Now close your eyes and imagine yourself as being one with it. Your spirit will go inside the Bloodstone, and you will fall asleep. I will take care of hooking you up to a coffin and Rayshifting you."

Connla took a deep breath and closed her eyes, imagining herself sleeping inside the red crystal. She entered a sort of trance state where she wasn't completely asleep, but she didn't have enough cognition to be considered awake either. Time didn't mean anything, so it was hard to tell if she had been out for a ridiculously long time or for just a few seconds. She felt the familiar sensation of the world rushing past her as she descended into the Rayshift tunnel.

* * *

After what felt like a long time, Connla felt her feet plant themselves upon softer ground than what she had been standing on earlier. She felt a light breeze swaying around her, and she gradually opened her eyes. Her lower jaw fell open as she gazed about at her surroundings. She was in the middle of an expansive, hilly meadow looking over the ocean. Countless varieties of wildflowers and grasses danced in the wind, and the sun beamed brightly upon the mid-afternoon atmosphere.

 _Have I… Rayshifted… by myself…?_

After Connla spent a moment of ogling, a strange sight interrupted her from her daze. A larger version of a Saint Quartz floated next to her, and Da Vinci's voice echoed through broken static, "Ah, ah, ah! Testing! One, two, three! Are you there, Connla? Can you hear me?"

"Just enough," the girl answered.

"Good. Is the feed sort of broken?"

"Yes. I can just barely make out what you're saying."

"I figured as much."

"How are you talking to me through a Saint Quartz?"

"Oh, this? It's a projection of the Quartz on my staff. I don't wanna bore you with the details, so let's just say I'm communicating with you through it."

"Sure…" Connla was bewildered enough with so much occurring all at once. Here she was, expecting to just deliver food to Da Vinci only to end up in an entirely different world within the span of an hour.

"Okay, so now you're going to go find a Leyline, then establish a summoning circle," Da Vinci instructed.

"A summoning circle? I thought only Ms. Mash could do that."

"Technically speaking, any Servant who has made a contract with Ritsuka should be able to do it. Mash is the most reliable Servant due to her possessing the Round Table itself, but the Bloodstone will help you set it up. You also know a thing or two about Celtic Runes, so it shouldn't be a problem for you."

"But Ms. Da Vinci, I'm not exactly sure where I am or what time period I've been sent to, or even for what purpose. Everything looks fine here."

"That's perfect. I purposefully sent you to France in 1431, which was a Singularity that had been resolved before you had been summoned. Mash already set up a summoning circle elsewhere, but it'd be helpful to establish another one in case of an emergency."

Connla murmured in acknowledgement, then said, "So I just have to look for a Leyline…"

"Yep. Be careful though. You're the only Servant there, so there won't be any backup should you get into a scuffle. Get that circle established as soon as you can, then I'll call you back to HQ."

"How are you going to bring me back?"

"Don't worry. I have full control of the Bloodstone, so if I think it is getting too dangerous for you, or if we lose contact, I'll retrieve you right away. I don't have to worry about monitoring your vitals since you're already a spirit anyway, but to be safe, find that Leyline ASAP. You'll be a lot safer with the summoning circle in place, and it will be much easier for me to recall you."

"Understood. Commencing my investigation."

Connla began walking through the grassy field, still astonished that Da Vinci's strange invention actually worked. Even though it was just a harmless trek for now, the idea that a Servant could work in a completely separate timeline independent from Ritsuka's fascinated her. There were still a lot of questionable points that needed ironing out, but the young Lancer was glad to help out as a test subject if it meant lessening the burden on her Master in the long run. She knew that Da Vinci had worked tirelessly to make sure nothing would go wrong and that she would return to Chaldea safely, so Connla entrusted all of her faith and confidence in the inventor.

She gazed at her surroundings, trying to get her bearings straight. To her right was the Bay of Biscay, with the island of Île d'Oléron directly across from where she was in mainland France. She was north of the Gironde estuary, where the port city of Bordeaux rested at the southernmost tip of the river. This general region hadn't been greatly affected by the Hundred Years' War of the Evil Dragons incident, which comprised the first Singularity that Ritsuka and her Servants resolved. Connla had not been around at the time- she'd been summoned just before the Magus took on the sixth known Singularity in the Holy Land of Camelot. Whatever happened in France was completely unknown to the young Servant.

That's why she had a hard time imagining that a country possessing such vast, elegant plains and grand ocean views could be the setting for a cataclysmic event that threatened humanity's very foundation. To be fair though, she wasn't familiar with the original Hundred Years' War either, so perhaps this beautiful nation had plenty of dark history attached to it.

"Come on, what are you standing around for?" Da Vinci's voice urged. "Get moving already."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just thought I'd take it in for a second."

"Guess I can't blame you. You're the first Servant to ever Rayshift by yourself to a fractured timeline, so you must be feeling out of place without your Master to give you commands."

"That's not what I was… Never mind," Connla's muttering trailed off. "Do you know where I should be looking for the Leyline?"

"Not exactly, but I'm picking up a strong signature somewhere near the Gironde. It could be on the same side of the river that you are, or on the opposite side."

"So I just need to focus on the water."

"That's right…" Da Vinci affirmed, but then her tone went quiet rather quickly. "Hm? I'm picking up a Servant signature very close to you."

The young Lancer inhaled deeply and looked around. When she looked up at the northeastern hills that would lead to Orleans, that was when she saw someone riding a white horse. The armored man commanded his steed to trot directly toward her, so his visage gradually became clearer to her.

Da Vinci worriedly asked, "Is it a hostile?"

"I don't think so," Connla shook her head. "Judging from his armor and military decorations, he looks like a knight."

Once the man was within speaking range, she inspected his features thoroughly. The first thing she noticed was how chalky white his skin looked. 'Pale' probably didn't begin to describe how devoid of color his pallor was. This, coupled with the distinct bags under his weary black eyes, already suggested that he was a man who endured unfathomable stress throughout his life. He wore a green coat beneath the mismatched set of armor, giving him the aura that, though he was an esteemed knight, something didn't seem to be quite right with him.

He stopped in front of the child and dismounted his steed before approaching her. His smile was friendly, but it didn't fit with his dogged appearance at all. The man asked, "Greetings, young lady. What brings you to this region all by yourself?"

"Um…" Connla fumbled with her words for a moment, then replied, "I'm looking for a specific place, but…"

"Are you perhaps lost?"

"Hmm… I guess so. I know this is France, but I'm not familiar with the local towns and landmarks."

"Where are you trying to go?"

"I want to go further south."

"Then you're headed for the Bordeaux region. How fortunate that my path likewise takes me to those areas. Allow me to show you the way."

"Thank you, sir."

Connla followed the black-haired knight for a bit, then eventually said, "By the way, I don't think I got your name."

"Oh, my apologies. My mind has been so preoccupied that I forgot the most basic tenant of socializing. I am Gilles de Rais, a knight of the military and former ally of the Holy Maiden."

"I knew it!" Da Vinci exclaimed. "You're a national hero who served under Jeanne D'Arc during the Hundred Years War! Well, I already knew that thanks to the First Singularity, but we didn't get to see you much during the incident."

"My goodness!" the man likewise blurted. "Where is that beautiful voice coming from!?"

"Whoops, sorry. I'm Leonardo Da Vinci, a brilliant genius and inventor who will not be born for another 20 or so years in your time. You're hearing me from the crystal floating next to her."

Gilles genuinely looked baffled. "What are you-?"

"Never you mind that. Just think of me as an invisible assistant for the little lady there. She's not allowed to tell you her name due to certain circumstances, so I'll introduce her for you. She is Connla, a young traveler from Ireland who has left her home in search of adventure."

"Connla, hm?" the knight murmured while inspecting his guest from head to toe. "Interesting. Your form is too immature to embark on such a grueling journey, yet your countenance somehow convinces me that you have the fortitude and skills needed to survive."

"Um…" the child spearman uttered, unsure of how to respond to Gilles' compliments.

"Well, I'm sure you have quite the tale to tell, but I suggest we move as quickly as we can. I have heard reports that the Bordeaux region has become unstable due to thieves and insurgents running rampant lately. Honestly…" Gilles' expression suddenly turned dour. "Those traitors threw away my beloved Jeanne, and then proceeded to cause havoc upon their own home with no regard for the miracles she blessed this nation with. Do those corrupt vermin not know the depths to which they have sunken?"

Connla didn't want to bother him with questions regarding what he was mumbling about. She stayed far behind him while Da Vinci whispered in her ear, "I suggest you keep him out of arm's reach if you know what's good for you."

"Why?"

"Gilles de Rais is an infamous figure in French history, first serving under Jeanne D'Arc as a valiant knight. But then Pierre Cauchon, the Bishop of Beauvais, betrayed Jeanne and had her executed as a heretic. As a fervent follower of Jeanne and her belief in God, Gilles couldn't accept it and turned to witchcraft, kidnapping young boys and doing some despicable things to them under the pseudonym 'Bluebeard'. He would be executed himself due to other nobles wanting his territories for themselves, and his horrific deeds would go largely unpunished."

"So that's what he was talking about…"

"Well, this period we're in is very shortly after Jeanne's execution, so Gilles hasn't quite given in to his insanity yet. Don't be surprised if you see signs of his darker nature though. Keep a healthy distance from him, but don't make him suspicious of your behavior."

"I'll be careful."


	2. Draconic Remnants

**FATE/OUTSIDE EXPERIENCE**

 **Part I: Blood Thread**

 **Chapter 2: Draconic Remnants**

Connla and Gilles continued south along the Gironde for about half an hour. As Da Vinci suggested to her, she kept a fair distance behind him as he rode on his horse. He kept shifting his eyes back and forth between what was in front of him and the apprehensive look in his unusual companion's expression.

He wanted to try talking to her, so he wondered, "What seems to be the matter?"

"Hm?" Connla looked up at him.

"You've been averting your gaze from me for some time. Was there something I said that offended you?"

"No, not at all. I appreciate you showing me the way."

"Then is there something else on your mind? I'd be happy to listen, if you so wish."

"Well… I'm often thinking about one thing or another. I guess you could say I always look like this."

"Oh, my. That's not good for you," Gilles frowned. "A young lady like you shouldn't be so pensive all the time. It would ruin your complexion."

Da Vinci whispered under her breath, "You're one to talk…"

"Ahem!" Connla coughed to drown out the insult. "Anyway, you don't need to worry about me, Sir Gilles. I might not look it to you, but I'm perfectly fine."

"Is that so? Then I shall not pry any further," the knight replied and returned his attention to the road.

She sighed lightly and thought, _It's so weird, knowing how a good person like him will eventually change into one of history's most despicable criminals. But there's nothing I can do about it. One of the most important rules in Chaldea is to never influence how the locals will live out their lives. Our job is to correct external threats to humanity's overall timeline while preserving the proper foundations, even if it means allowing history's worst villains to be born._

It was a conundrum that she didn't like at all, but she understood the dangers of trying to warp the world's history into something of her own fashioning. Such efforts would inevitably turn her down a path of evil that she never wanted to tread. It went against common sense, yet the wisdom behind leaving things well alone was perfectly sound in the long run. That was why Connla made no attempt to tell Gilles anything about what was in store for him in the future.

As the pair continued along the river's edge, that was when they noticed something unusual happening up ahead. Gilles commanded his horse to stop with a yell, and Connla asked, "What's wrong?"

He dismounted and glared ahead with a fierce look in his narrow eyes. "There appears to be a caravan that is under attack."

Just as he claimed, about 300 meters ahead was a skirmish between merchants and their families versus a gang of thugs wearing leather and fur pelts. The bandits were especially merciless as they struck down the unarmed men with their swords, and restrained the women and children to force them inside cages with wheels.

"Damn them!" Gilles seethed, his tired eyes suddenly bulging wide like saucers. "Miss Connla, please remain here! I shall dispatch of these fiends immediately!"

"W-Wait!" the little girl protested, but he was already out of earshot.

"This isn't good," Da Vinci frowned hard. "He may be strong, but I don't think he is able to fend off an entire horde of brigands by himself."

"But didn't you say he was a Servant earlier?"

"Technically speaking, he is a human who belongs to this time period, but can be summoned as a Servant. As he is right now, he doesn't have the strength of a Heroic Spirit like you and I do. If he is killed right now, France's history will not proceed as it should, and we could wind up with another Singularity on our hands."

"So even if it means that should he survive this, Sir Gilles will still become a madman in the future…?"

"No one ever said that human history was pretty."

Connla placed a hand over her chest to settle the uneasy feeling growing inside her.

 _Ms. Da Vinci's right,_ she thought. _It is Chaldea's sworn duty to preserve the foundation of humanity. As a Servant of the organization, I have to do my best to meet that vision._

Da Vinci smiled lightly and said, "You know what you need to do, right?"

"Mm. First I'll get the civilians out, then provide support for Sir Gilles."

With that, the young Lancer hurried toward the assaulted caravan to see if she could protect anyone.

* * *

While Connla and Da Vinci were busy talking with each other, Gilles raced at the attackers with a deadly angry expression on his pallid face.

"Halt, villains!" he shouted, unsheathing his sword and rushing toward the commotion.

"What the-?" one of the bandits exclaimed.

"It's De Rais, one of that witch's supporters!" another one yelled, seemingly undeterred about facing a national hero.

"You mean one of Jeanne D'Arc's followers? Oh, perfect! I heard this guy is stupidly rich! If we can bag him, we can hold him ransom for more money than those peasants!"

Gilles' already furious appearance grew even more twisted as he heard those selfish words. The moment he got into his battle stance, the leader of the thieves commanded his subordinates to attack him all at once. They charged at him with enthusiastic battle cries, excited at the prospect of taking down a famous French hero and threatening the government with his safety. However, what they didn't expect was how vicious the marshal would be – when the first assailant reached him, he rushed in low and jammed his long sword through his abdomen, then sliced clean through the first victim's torso and cleaved diagonally across another bandit's chest.

This wasn't a 'fight' so much as it was a one-sided slaughter on Gilles' part. One by one, the men fell to his piercing blade, and the knight's green clothes were gradually stained red with splatters of blood. The thieves' leader started to realize that his opponent was actually enjoying the unpleasant killing, judging by the gleeful grin plastered over his face and the frenzied look in his dark eyes.

"Heh heh! Wonderful!" Gilles exclaimed. "It is usurpers like you that should be cleansed from this nation without a trace!"

"Holy _shit_!" one of the brigands shouted in panic and dropped his axe. "Forget this! I'm not throwing my life away to fight this freak!"

"Freak…? Did I hear you call me a _freak_ just now…?" the crazed knight demanded.

He took chase after the now unarmed man and coldly slashed down his back, killing him instantly. He stamped his boot over the corpse and raved, "That's right! That's exactly where you belong, maggot! While my beloved Jeanne has returned to Heaven where she rightfully belongs, your fate is to be nothing but worm food! Disappear from my sight and besmirch France's honor no longer, wastrel!"

The bandit leader cursed beneath his breath, livid that his men were too weak to stand up against one man. He told one of his men, "Go back to the hideout and let it loose!"

"What!? But boss, that thing is-!"

"Shut up! Do you want to be another bloodstain on that monster's blade!?"

"Uuh…"

"Just go! It's only natural that we'd have to take down the most fervent follower of a bona fide witch with our own secret weapon!"

The subordinate reluctantly nodded and escaped from the foray. Gilles heard the leader's insults and exclaimed, "Are you the boss of this mess of riff-raff?"

"And what if I am?" the ragged man retorted, holding a broadsword in both hands.

"Scum… Trash… Scoundrels… All of you are the same… Whether it's a lowly outlaw like you or an 'esteemed' bishop like Cauchon, you're all the goddamn same… None of you understand the gift that Jeanne D'Arc blessed this godforsaken land of reprobates with! You all had one chance to redeem your sins under her guidance, _and you all threw it away!_ "

"So what? That God of hers won't fill our stomachs and clothe our backs, right? However pretty her ideals were, the fact that we live under the heels of rich bastards like you will never change!"

The knight was astounded to hear such a brutal opinion of the deity he believed in. "No, you're wrong… God is… God is good… H-He is…"

"What a joke! God doesn't exist! He's just a fictional character created for people in the Church to extort money!"

Gilles seethed so hard that his body shook.

 _God… doesn't exist…?_

"Hah! Looks like I found your Achilles heel!" the bandit leader laughed. "If you believe in something that doesn't exist, then you'll die without salvation! Bring it on, you self-righteous piece of shit!"

The man let out a fierce war cry and raced toward the dumbfounded knight.

* * *

Connla hurried past Gilles' battle with the thieves, taking a quick glance to notice how brutally he was taking the men out. As she reached the wheeled cages filled with captured women and children, the three remaining kidnappers who were struggling to get ready for their escape wielded their weapons when they saw the unusual child warrior equipping her spear.

"Not so fast!" she shouted and slid low beneath the first man's legs to completely knock him off his feet. He sailed headfirst into the dirt and lost consciousness. Just as Connla was about to use an Ansuz Rune to burn the last two enemies' weapons, Da Vinci suddenly cut in, "Don't use your magic!"

"What!? Why not!?"

"Remember what I told you about Jeanne D'Arc being executed for witchcraft and heresy? If those people see you flinging spells around, they'll think you're a witch as well!"

"Ugh… Guess I'll have to handle this the old-fashioned way then."

The young Servant spun her spear in her hand and rushed in to confront the thieves head-on. Since they were ordinary humans, it was extremely easy for her to just focus on disarming them rather than killing them like Gilles was. All it took was a short scuffle consisting of lithe twirls and precise spear swings to knock their swords out of their hands, followed by her jabbing the non-bladed end of her weapon against their stomachs to knock the wind out of them. Once the enemies were dispatched, Connla broke the cage trolley's lock with a mighty stab and freed the women and children.

"Thank you so much!" one lady exclaimed, then took her crying child back to the caravan.

"I second that!" another woman sobbed. "They were going to sell us women to brothels and our children to slave dealers! Such horror! What in the world has happened to this country!?"

"Everything's okay now," Connla assured. "Hurry on to Bordeaux. You should be safe there."

"Mom?" a little girl whimpered, then pointed towards Gilles. "Is that man one of the bad guys…?"

Her mother gazed at the carnage, then immediately covered her daughter's eyes and shouted angrily, _"Oh, the humanity!"_

"That's Sir Gilles, isn't it?" the first lady wondered.

"That can't be… I thought he was a man of nobility and honor…"

Connla grit her teeth, realizing that the former captives were being traumatized by the French marshal's savage murdering. She shouted as loudly as she could, "Just go! I'll make sure you all escape safely!"

The women and children gasped and reacted to her command by sprinting back to the surviving male merchants in a horde. Not only did they witness enough brutality to scar their souls for life, they also had to deal with bringing their dead to Bordeaux. As much as she wanted to help them, Connla still had a battle to focus on. She first tied up the unconscious thieves so they wouldn't escape, then hurried towards Gilles' fight with the surprisingly experienced bandit leader.

* * *

"HRAGH!" the thug shouted and swung over Gilles when he was caught wide open.

"Mmph!" the confounded knight managed to parry, and they continued dueling for another agonizing minute. He was still struggling to come to terms with what his opponent said, not so much because it was an insult to the Holy Maiden's mission. Rather, there seemed to be a hint of understanding, or perhaps it could be called an epiphany.

 _God doesn't exist… If it did, it would have saved Jeanne. No, more than that… It would have saved France from the vices of corruption and violence before Jeanne ever even needed to rise in rebellion. If it had done anything, Jeanne would never have been called a heretic and burned at the stake. She died for a god… who did nothing for her… because it didn't exist…_

Gilles' anguished expression immediately turned into sinister glee.

 _I see… I see how it is! Why did I not realize this sooner!?_

With unexpected agility, he spun around the brigand's sword slash, then jammed his blade through the man's exposed midsection.

"If there is no god to offer salvation," the crazed knight ranted, "then it stands to reason that there is also no god to punish us for our sins!"

"Gwah!? Agh! Urgh!" the stricken bandit yelped with each piercing hot strike Gilles made into his skin. He lost count of how many times he carved his fury into him, and he didn't care. His moment of menacing self-discovery made him lose his mind to the carnage.

"Looks like you were right, scum! There really is no god! We are beasts of anarchy with no guiding hand to lead us! I have the freedom to tear you limb to limb just as much as you have the freedom to terrorize France with your vile ways!"

The frenzy only lasted a few seconds, so when he came to his senses, he found the cut up outlaw lying on his back, covered in probably dozens of bleeding wounds and looking more like a fresh chunk of butcher meat than an actual human. By some miracle though, he was still breathing. Gilles wouldn't accept anything except a brutal death, so he readied his saber in a stabbing motion and shouted, "Remember your maker, refuse of society! When you wind up in Hell and wonder who sent you there, _remember the name_ _ **Bluebeard**_ _!_ "

" _ **STOP!"**_

Before Gilles could lower his blade into the fallen man's heart, he suddenly came face-to-face with the polished head of a spear. The astonished knight looked over and found Connla near him, pointing her weapon straight at his eyes. Her severe, strict expression threw him off, considering that it was coming from a child that wasn't even a decade old yet.

"That's enough," she demanded quietly.

The adrenaline rushed out of Gilles' head, and he gasped heavily for air. "M-Miss Connla… I… I apologize…"

She lowered her polearm. She wanted to say something about his brutal killing, but she was afraid it would be a waste of her breath. Instead she reported, "I got the civilians out of there. They're on their way to Bordeaux to send help."

"Is that so? To think that a stranger would go out of her way for France's people… You don't know how much that means to me."

She wasn't impressed with his flattery. "Even if you were defending innocent people, that doesn't excuse what you did to those men. You should've been more considerate."

"Of those criminals? Preposterous. It is my sworn duty to-"

"Not them. I meant of the civilians."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you have any idea how terrified they were of you as you slew those men? If you were once considered the paragon of French heroism in their eyes before, that image must have all but vanished by now."

"…"

Connla sighed after venting her harsh feelings upon the weary soldier, then said, "I'm sorry. It's not my place to lecture anyone, least of all you. I just thought it would be best for you to think of the people you're saving next time."

"Yes, of course. I shall take note of your counsel in the future."

As they spoke, that was when they heard the cry of something inhuman in the far distance. They reached for their weapons again, and Gilles snapped, "What in the devil's name was that!?"

Connla panned her eyes across the sky, then caught some kind of movement over the trees. Rising from the swaying leaves was something terrifyingly large and olive green. The beast flapped its massive wings about while circling over its prey. Its beady red eyes glowed as it suddenly swooped down and bore straight for the pair. They kneeled low and steadied themselves as the wind picked up for a moment. It flipped upside-down, then flew perfectly vertical above them before uprighting itself at the last possible chance and hovering in front of them. Connla was astonished to find herself confronting this creature in such a place.

 _A wyvern!?_

The winged beast let out a bloodcurdling roar before fixing its gaze upon her.

"What's going on? You've suddenly become very quiet," Da Vinci asked.

"The bandits have let loose a wyvern that they tamed!" the young Lancer reported. "What's going on here? How can there be a dragon in a Singularity that's already been corrected?"

Just then, the dying bandit leader chuckled and moaned between blood-choked gurgles, "Heh… 'Bout time… they let it loose…"

"What is the meaning of this!?" Gilles demanded.

"Dunno… We just found the thing… when it was wounded… and tied it up…"

"I get it," Da Vinci replied. "It must be a small leftover from the First Singularity."

"Well, whatever. I may be dead… but my 'partner' will… cause the disturbance… I have always sought…"

With one last deep breath, the brigand finally expired. The wyvern howled angrily and reached its talons toward Connla as she was busy watching the man die.

"Watch out!" Gilles screamed and pushed her aside. He tried to fight against the claws, but the dragon was too powerful for an ordinary knight like him to stand against. It caught his arm and flew around with him in its grasp before barreling straight for a large tree and releasing him. He crashed back-first against the trunk and lost consciousness. With him out of the way, the wyvern turned its attention back to Connla and screeched at her.

"Ms. Da Vinci, it seems intent on fighting me first," she reported.

"It must recognize that you're a Servant, so it wants to eliminate any higher level threats first before going on a rampage across France."

"So it would seem."

"You think you can fight it?"

"I've dealt with wyverns before in other worlds. I guess I just wasn't expecting one here."

"Then go show that thing who's boss! If left alone, it could destroy Bordeaux no problem!"

"Of course! Does that mean I'm able to use my Runes again?"

Da Vinci used the scanners to search for any other signs of life, then said, "There's no one else around, and Gilles is unconscious. You're free to fling spells around without anyone witnessing you."

"Got it. Commencing battle!"

With nothing to constrain her from using her full abilities, Connla rushed headlong towards the wyvern. It snarled and tried to scratch her to pieces with its sharp talons, but it missed her as she rolled beneath it and shot a small fireball at the back of its neck. Its scales were thick enough to absorb the brunt of it, although some burning flesh could be seen. The disoriented dragon landed on its feet and whirled around, thrusting its long neck toward her and baring its teeth. She sidestepped before it could eat her alive and deftly slashed at one of its eyes, destroying its sight on that side.

" _ **GYAAAHH!"**_

The wyvern unleashed such a hideous scream that Connla thought she would go deaf. While it was recovering from its devastating injury, she finally went on the offensive by flipping backwards toward a tall tree, then vaulting up to the branches high above so she could leap above the wyvern. She raised her spear and enchanted it with several Ansuz Runes before readying it in a throwing position. The beast glared up at her and roared again.

 _Now!_

Connla hurled her polearm straight into the dragon's open mouth, getting swallowed whole through its long neck. It suddenly lost the ability to howl as the blade cleaved its esophagus and pierced its vocal chords. As if that wasn't enough, she readied her hands in a conjuring stance and shouted, " _Ansuz!"_

As she landed back on her feet, the Runes on the spear detonated right inside the wyvern's neck. Its skin bulged unnaturally before the head was cleanly separated from the rest of the body due to a fiery explosion. The sight would be sickening and terrifying if anyone else was around to see it, but it didn't bother her much as she watched the decapitated head plop onto the grass. The creature's body soon lost its rigidity and collapsed onto its side. She raised her hand, and her spear floated out of the corpse and returned to her.

"Phew… Threat eliminated," Connla told Da Vinci.

"Good work. I knew I could count on you," the inventor smiled.

"Did you have any idea that this was going to happen?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean did SHEBA detect this disturbance, and you sent me here to resolve it?"

"Of course not. I already told you that I wanted to test my Bloodstone invention out, and you just happened to be there. I had no idea that there were still wyverns in that former Singularity."

"Are you sure?"

"Come now, don't go insinuating things without evidence. If it'll make you feel better, I'll send Siegfried there later to see if he can clean up any other dragons left behind."

"Hmm…" Connla wasn't entirely convinced, but since she had no proof that Da Vinci was lying to her, she had to make do with her word.

"Besides," Da Vinci said, "shouldn't you be checking up on Gilles?"

"Oh, that's right."

The young Servant hurried over to the knocked out knight and shook his shoulder. After a few moments, the man stirred awake with a labored groan and muttered, "Ah… Miss Connla…"

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I will be fine."

He eventually got back up and gasped from the piercing headache. She helped him up while urging, "Don't push yourself. Help should be on its way from Bordeaux. I also left some of the bandits alive for you to interrogate."

"That is good to know. Perhaps I can force them to reveal everything they know about their benefactors so that I finally have probable cause to execute them."

"Y-You're not going to torture those men, are you?" Connla yelped.

"Anything to expose those cretins who betrayed my Jeanne…"

She sighed forlornly. "I… um… I wish I could say something, but…"

"Say no more. You are a humble visitor to France, and a treasured savior as well. Jeanne would have been most proud of your service. That being said, you must leave internal affairs to enforcers such as myself. I shall do my utmost to make sure such a disaster does not occur again."

"Hmm… I mean, I won't question your methods. It's just that… are you really going to continue doing such horrible things in the Holy Maiden's name? Isn't that just going to be revenge in the end?"

"Of course it will be," Gilles scowled. "If those backstabbers had the nerve to discard Jeanne for their own selfish purposes, then I have every right to show them the folly of their indulgent egotism. Why must you ask such questions, young lady? You seem determined to oppose my idea of justice."

"Well, I can't be specific, but something terrible happened to me in the past. My father became enraged over it and killed a lot of people in my name."

Gilles fell silent.

"I didn't want him to suffer anymore because of me," Connla continued. "Because he anguished over the cruelty I faced, he took it out on so many innocent people. That only made me feel more responsible for everything, and it became a vicious cycle until I finally killed him. Even though I resolved everything, it still feels tragic to me."

"I see… Was your misfortune brought upon by your own deeds?"

"I don't think so. I do everything I can to make sure I don't cause trouble for anyone."

"Yes, I wholeheartedly believe that about you. You have the same purity that Jeanne embodied. But she was wrong to devote herself to a nonexistent deity. The god she believed in did nothing to save her, and she was unable to save herself the way you did. Young lady, I implore you – do not believe in any kind of god. If they do exist, they will never come to help you."

"I don't know if I can call myself a believer of any religion to begin with. I think I've come this far because of my own skills."

"That's good. No, perfect even. We humans are alone in this vast world. No matter what good or evil we do in our lifetimes, we have no fear of any higher being delivering their grace or punishment upon us. If it doesn't exist, it shouldn't be acknowledged."

"Hmm…" Connla frowned somberly, sensing Gilles' darker side that Da Vinci warned her about. It felt unusual for her to be told not to believe in gods when she was the granddaughter of the Celtic sun god Lugh, and the daughter of the demi-god Cuchulainn.

"My goodness. I'm sorry for troubling you," the knight quickly apologized after noticing her fatigued look.

"No, don't worry about it. I'm just not sure of what to say to help you."

"You don't need to. I appreciate your concern for me. All this while, I've done nothing but complain in your presence."

"But even so… Maybe you don't believe that the god that Ms. Jeanne followed exists… But it's definitely true that Ms. Jeanne's soul is still out there. If you can't believe in a god, why not believe in the souls of those who once lived among you? You want to believe in what exists, and Ms. Jeanne's spirit is very real, isn't it? Why not believe in that instead?"

"Me having faith in her soul?" Gilles murmured.

"Um… I mean… I'm not really sure if my wording is right… It's just that even though my father is no longer with me, I want to believe he's watching over me… or something like that."

He smiled lightly. "That's fine. There's no need to console me further. I will think about what you said whenever I feel lost."

Connla looked away abashedly, not sure if she wanted to keep this conversation going. She felt like she was sounding more and more awkward as she rambled on.

"Pardon me for interrupting, Sir Gilles," Da Vinci interjected. "I know we haven't reached Bordeaux yet, but I'm afraid this is where we will be parting ways."

"Oh? You do not have any business in the city?" he wondered curiously.

"That's right. We appreciate your help with getting us this far though. We'll take it from here no problem."

"I see. Very well, then. Please be careful in your travels, young lady," Gilles said to Connla, then bade her farewell with a wave and continued onward to the city.

"Phew," the girl sighed as she watched the knight disappear into the distance. "That was rather tense there for a second."

"You handled yourself pretty well there," Da Vinci said.

"You think so?"

"Definitely. Maybe the course of his life won't change, but at least he'll have something to think about thanks to you."

"I wonder…"

"Well, what are you going to do? You have a job to finish, so let's put this gloomy business behind us and find that Leyline. What do you say?"

"Yes, that's a good idea. I can sense some strong magical energy near the coast."

Connla left the battle site behind and continued along the Gironde estuary, using a magic-seeking Rune to aid her in finding the highest concentration of mana emanating from the earth. After about an hour of searching, her dowsing spell finally reacted as strongly as it could.

"Here it is," she murmured to herself and placed her spear vertically upon the ground. She concentrated on casting her Runes to create a magic circle around her. The symbols didn't look the same as when Mash created a summoning field – this one possessed a three-leaf Celtic Knot dotted with various Runic letters around the circumference.

"Mm. It's finished," Connla reported.

"Good. Close your eyes now. I'm going to try bringing you home."


	3. Queen and Little Knight

**FATE/OUTSIDE EXPERIENCE**

 **Part II: Abhorrent Affection**

 **Chapter 3: Queen and Little Knight**

Connla nervously opened one of her eyes.

 _Am I back…?_

Standing in front of her was an elated Da Vinci, whose smile was brighter than the sun's light. She looked absolutely ecstatic as she exclaimed, "Welcome home!"

"Ms. Da Vinci?" the girl murmured, then looked around. She was back inside the chamber containing CHALDEAS and the many Spiritron Coffins. She inspected herself to see if there were any abnormalities. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, so she asked, "Did it work?"

"Beautifully!" the inventor happily replied and hugged Connla. "Oh my gosh, this is amazing! We just successfully completed history's first independent Rayshift of a Servant! There were a couple of snags along the way, but I've got lots of data that I can work with to refine the system, all thanks to you!"

"N-No, I don't think I did anything special…"

"Don't be so modest! This calls for a celebration! We should have a nice meal and give a toast to Chaldea's newest function!"

"A toast?"

"Oh, speaking of new functions, I haven't actually given it a name. It should be designated the same way that CHALDEAS, SHEBA, LAPLACE and FATE are. Hmm… What to call it…?"

"The Bloodstone serves as a Servant's link to the Master, so why not just BLOODSTONE?"

"Nah, that's too easy. It has to be catchy. I like the idea of a 'link' though."

"A link to Master… Link… Connection… Attachment… Channel… Thread…"

"Oh, that's perfect! Very well! I shall christen it the Servant Independent Deployment Module, THREAD!"

"THREAD, hm?" Connla raised an eyebrow dubiously. "Sounds kind of off, but it still makes sense."

"Aw, don't be so stingy!" Da Vinci rubbed her hair. "It may not be perfected yet, but this will go down in the organization's history as the maiden voyage of THREAD! I can't wait to tell everyone about it and see how many other vict- I mean, volunteers will line up to give it a whirl!"

Connla narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she thought, _Did she just call me a victim?_

* * *

Two days later, Connla was back in Da Vinci's workshop observing the inventor as she scribbled some notes. The Lancer asked, "What are you working on?"

"Just finishing up my thesis, showing how your contributions to our pet project the other day will help expand THREAD's capabilities."

"Hmm…"

"What's wrong? You should be more excited than that. You and I are the pioneers for a new technology that can assist with the Grand Order."

"Oh, um… I guess I'm not seeing it in the grand scope that you are, Ms. Da Vinci."

"You take things way too seriously, missy. What you need is a sense of imagination! Think of the possibilities!"

"I guess so." The young girl still didn't seem convinced by the woman's enthusiasm.

"Goodness, you need to feel more gusto than _that._ You're killing the mood here… Oh, by the way," Da Vinci uttered, "I saw Ritsuka and Mash go into the summoning chamber yesterday. Have you heard word about any new recruits?"

Connla stopped to think for a second, then said, "I think Dr. Roman mentioned that there's a new Rider among our ranks. I haven't seen them yet though."

"Ooh, that's exciting! If it's a Rider, there's a high chance that they'll be a king of some kind!"

That was when a third female's voice broke through and exclaimed, "Make that the most beautiful and selfish queen of all time!"

The other two sharply turned their heads towards the source of the new voice, finding a woman somewhere in her 20's standing at the doorway. She had long rose pink hair topped with a silver tiara, brown eyes, and the countenance of a haughty lady who expected everyone to bow before her without being told to do so. All of her attire was white, including her bra, gloves, mini skirt, and boots. Attached to her waist was a blunt riding crop that was worn enough to indicate it had its fair share of usage. She was able to be both a selfish little girl and a lady of refinement, so it was difficult for others to tell if she was really mature or immature.

"Well, well," Da Vinci grinned. "You must be the new Rider I heard about. I don't think we've made your acquaintance yet."

"Hmph. Usually I don't bother introducing myself to women, but you look decent enough," the pink-haired lady said. "My True Name is Medb, the Eternal Lady and Queen of Connacht."

"Whoa! Did you hear that, Connla!?" the inventor exclaimed in surprise. "It's someone from the Ulster Cycle, just like you!"

The little girl gazed at Medb for a moment, then mumbled, "But I never got to meet her when I was alive."

"Connla?" the young queen murmured, her friendly expression turning fierce all of a sudden. "Where did I hear that name before…? Oh, that's it! Master said that you and multiples of my Cu are from the same period that I am!"

" _Your_ Cu…?"

"That's right. Don't you know that it was I who was responsible for defeating the Hound of Ulster at long last after that embarrassing seven-year long war? If only he had surrendered from the get-go, I could have made him one of my greatest manservants!"

"I don't think that would have happened. Father is much too stubborn to give up to anyone, even to his own superiors."

"You got that ri- Wait a minute! Did you just call Cu 'Father'!?"

"Uh… I did."

" _Seriously!?"_

"S-Seriously…"

Medb's stern glare turned uglier as she leaned over the bewildered Connla. "Then you're telling me that you're Cu's daughter?"

"That's right. I-I mean, the world remembers me as his son… B-But my epithet is Child of Cuchulainn, so I was able to be summoned as a girl."

"Is that so?" the queen grumbled darkly. "So some other woman got to sully my Cu before I could?"

"Oh, come on," Da Vinci laughed. "You're one to talk, what with surrounding yourself with so many suitors in your lifetime."

"That's not the point! I thought for sure that Cu was pure enough to save himself for me!"

"Do you even hear yourself…?"

Medb got in Connla's face again and demanded, "Then who's your mother!?"

"T-The Scottish warrior woman Aife," the confused child said.

"So he knocked up someone in Scotland?" the queen murmured, then realized, "Now that I think about it, that's where the Land of Shadows is. Cu must have had a fling with her while he trained under that witch Scathach…"

Connla nodded, confirming Medb's assumption.

"I see, I see. So that's what Cu was up to before my invasion of Ulster. He left you in Scotland with your mother for those seven years while he fought against me."

"Mm-hmm."

"Well now. Kind of disappointing that he had the nerve to have an affair with some common warrior wench behind my back. But…"

Medb's taut frown lost its rigidity and quickly changed into a delighted smile.

"But but but but but but-!"

She suddenly lunged at Connla and tightly wrapped her arms around the bewildered little girl.

" _Oh my gosh, you are just too CUTE!_ "

"Wha-!? Hey, um-!? Wh-What are you doing!?" Connla objected, unable to break free of the queen's surprise glomp.

"Are you _really_ Cu's daughter!? I can't believe it! You're so adorable!" Medb crooned and rubbed her cheek against Connla's. "Geez, that sly dog! Why didn't he tell me he had a child!? If I had known, I would have taken you in and made you the princess of Connacht! Cu probably wouldn't have liked it, but that just means he would have had to go after me all that more!"

Da Vinci giggled and said, "You probably didn't know because Connla's death was a secret that Cuchulainn took to the grave with him. There's no way he would let his mortal enemy know about the child that he accidentally killed in battle."

" _ **Whaa~aaat!?"**_ the queen let out an overdramatic cry. "Cu killed someone as sweet as Connie!? How in the world did _that_ happen!?"

"Um… It's kind of a long story," Connla murmured hesitantly, then thought, _Did she just call me Connie?_

Medb paused, staring at the girl with piercing brown eyes for a moment. Then she smiled and said, "In that case, you can bring me on your latest mission and tell me all about it there."

"You want to go with me as one of my Servants?"

"Why not? Now that I know you're Cu's baby girl, there's no way I'd let you go somewhere dangerous all by yourself. Plus I really want to know everything about you, from who your mom is to why Cu killed you. I want to know _all_ about it!"

"Hmm… Ms. Da Vinci?" the young Lancer looked at the inventor with uncertainty in her eyes.

"I don't see the problem. This will give me the opportunity to test how the Bloodstone will react to accepting other Heroic Spirits as the Blood Servant's followers."

"I guess so. But is the disturbance a particularly dangerous one?"

"It's a minor disruption that SHEBA detected, but if we leave it alone, it could potentially turn into a Singularity."

"I see. In that case, I'd like to get going as soon as possible."

"Aww, eager to get to work, are we?" Medb sighed. "Since I'm a bona fide queen, that means you'll have to work extra hard to protect me as my little knight!"

"If you say so…"

"This is so exciting! I can't wait to see what I have to slap into submission! After we're done, we can find the nearest spring to bathe in while having some girl talk!"

"That sounds like fun. I wish I could go with you guys," Da Vinci grinned.

Connla raised an eyebrow. "What's girl talk?"

"Oh, you silly little pup!" the queen chuckled and smacked her back. "I'll show you once we get there!"

Medb shoved the perplexed Connla through the door, then whispered to Da Vinci, "Don't let Cu know where we are! I don't want him ruining my private time with Connie!"

"Oh? I thought you were kidnapping her so that he'd come rescue her from you."

"Ahh… That sounds like a dream come true… But not this time! I shall refrain from living out my fantasy with Cu in favor of wrapping Connie around my finger! After I have her, it won't be long before Cu surrenders to me at long last!"

Medb took off with Connla, leaving Da Vinci to grumble to herself, "In the end, you're still lost in your fantasy world."

* * *

A Rayshift later, Medb and Connla arrived at their destination. They were in Aberdeen, a shire of Scotland situated to the far east of the country and flanked by Kincardine, Forfar, Perth, Inverness, Elgin and Banff counties. The year was 1320, in the middle of the First War of Scottish Independence, where England invaded Scotland on two separate occasions after Scotland's rightful heirs died. The entire ordeal began in 1296 and ended in 1357 with the signing of the Treaty of Berwick. There was officially a four-year break between the invasions that lasted from 1328 to 1332, with the death of Robert the Bruce creating another power vacuum. At the end of it all, Scotland managed to maintain its independence from England after the treaty forced the English to release King David II from capture and ransom. From there, he would be installed as Scotland's ruler instead of the English pretender Edward Balliol.

The war's conclusion was still another 37 years in the future from now. It would be a constant back-and-forth struggle between the two nations as counties were captured, reclaimed, captured again, reclaimed again, on and on with seemingly no end in sight. Sometimes England would dominate all of Scotland; other times, Scotland would try to push into England after taking a surprise advantage, only to be thrown out with complete impunity. To those looking back on the wars in present day, it almost seemed like a sport to watch and see who would be ahead at any time. However from December 1319 until January 1322, there was a truce declared and no military activity would continue until September 1322 when Scotland tried to push into England again.

This respite period was when Medb and Connla wound up in Aberdeen, currently in Scottish control, so they had no worries about interfering with the historic war's outcome.

"So this is Scotland, hm?" Medb murmured. "Not quite as grand as my Connacht, but at least the view of the North Sea is fitting for a queen such as myself. Say, Connie, isn't this where you were born and raised?"

"Yes, Mother and Father conceived me in this country, but Aberdeen is not where I grew up," Connla explained. "I lived in the heights of Ben Nevis, much further west from here."

"So your power should be much stronger since you're in your native country. As I thought, I was right to bring you along as my royal retainer!"

"Aren't you the one following me?"

"Don't nitpick about the details, or you'll die young."

"… Huh?"

"Anyway!" Medb exclaimed. "Where are we supposed to go from here? My boot is itching to stomp on someone inferior to me!"

"Let's see," Connla murmured and read Da Vinci's report of the disturbance. "There's a cavern near here that the locals claim is the nest to some strange beings, so people are afraid of venturing too close. Ms. Da Vinci believes they're wraiths, and that something or someone is actually summoning them there."

"Interesting. Could it be a Servant?"

"I don't know. What do you think, Ms. Da Vinci?"

The large Saint Quartz that the inventor used to communicate floated around the pair, and a holographic image of her appeared. She spent a moment analyzing the area, then said, "The signal is too weak to be compatible with a Servant, yet strong enough that it could be a higher-level monster."

"Oh, dear… Fighting that wyvern back in France was one thing, but what if this is a Phantasmal?"

What Connla was referring to were mythological creatures born from the collective human imagination, given shape and form through the power of Mystery and permission from the World to exist. Phantasmals dated back to the Age of Gods, when Mystery was the prevalent force behind all beings rather than logic and science. That era dwindled 12,000 years ago and gave way to the rise of human beings, but it was still possible for Phantasmal creatures to exist as either benefits or threats to humanity. Such examples of the more common Phantasmals included dragons, chimeras, demon boars, sphinxes, and were-humans. Some were so powerful that they were given names of their own, such as the legendary sea monster Curruid, the serpentine giant Typhon, and the massive horned snake Bashmu.

"Don't be silly," Da Vinci chuckled. "Do you think I would only send two Servants there if the detected source was strong enough to be that of a Phantasmal?"

"You didn't know about the dragon last time!" Connla objected.

"Come on, don't get your tights in a bundle. If you think it's too dangerous, you can always come back."

"Yeah, I could, but…"

"You want to investigate, don't you?"

"…"

Medb put her hand on the child's shoulder and said, "It'll be fine. If it comes to it, I can always use my secret weapon to bail us out."

"What would that be?"

"Oh, dear. You're so gullible, I could drown in your cuteness. Why in the world would I tell you what my _secret_ weapon is, hmm?"

"Um… I guess you wouldn't…"

"See? Sometimes ignorance is the best strategy. Now stop fretting and do your job of protecting me."

"Y-Yes, ma'am…"

Even though Medb was technically Connla's temporary Servant by virtue of the Bloodstone, the Queen of Connacht still acted like she was in charge and took the lead. They headed along the far eastern coast of Aberdeenshire, being careful not to fall down the steep rocky slopes while keeping an eye out for the cavern in question. There were so many natural caves that it would have been impossible to find the right one without Da Vinci's guidance.

Eventually, the duo descended upon a beach that had a huge cliff looking over the roaring waves. Connla looked back and forth between the report and the gaping hole that was dug into the rock bed, then said, "I think this is the one."

Medb immediately switched from being the leader to hiding behind her guardian, while whining, "Ahn! It looks so cold and dark and gloomy! If I had my way, I would have had my slaves cover this hole long ago! Although now that I think about it, it could be the perfect hideaway for my treasure trove, or even a private male harem!"

"Q-Queen Medb…" Connla murmured in embarrassment. "Could you please focus on the task at hand here?"

"You mean of cleaning out the rats that have taken up residence here? Believe me, my mind is as clear and focused as that time when I plotted my revenge against Cu! You have no idea how much ingenuity it took for me to finally defeat him!"

 _She always seems so zealous whenever she's thinking of doing something unscrupulous,_ the young Lancer thought bitterly.

With a resigned sigh, Connla ventured inside the dank cavern first, using a basic Rune to provide light for them. After a few minutes of exploring, they heard some ghastly cries echoing in the hollow grotto before a group of about 10 wraiths appeared before them. All of them appeared like thin and emaciated skeletons sporting short veils.

"My, how tasteless," Medb scoffed. "Ghosts are no fun – they don't feel any pain, so I can't whip them into submission."

"Looks like these are Assassin-class enemies. A Rider like you might have some trouble with them," Connla said. "Please stay back. I'll eliminate these in no time."

"Ah, Master is so cruel! She didn't have enough Embers to strengthen me, so I'm not at full potential yet! Can you believe it!? Please protect me, my little knight!"

The young Lancer ignored her partner's playful complaining and chanted the Runes to give herself Protection From Arrows. She lunged forth like a human weapon and acted as a distraction so the spirits wouldn't notice Medb. Since these were once humans who failed to both be recognized as heroes and were unable to pass on to the next life, their powers were not enough to rival a Servant's. They had the advantage in numbers, but it didn't help when Connla was ridiculously fast and almost impossible to hit. She slashed through them with ease, gradually thinning the horde and forcing them backward. She conjured some tiny Ansuz Runes and shot the fireballs at some enemies further away.

"Go back to where you belong! This is no longer your time and place!" she shouted.

The wraiths showed no sign of relenting though, so she prepared to launch another assault. That was when a woman's ethereal voice boomed in from out of nowhere and started singing an elegant yet disturbing opera song. The ghosts began to writhe out of control, and more of their kind began to fade into existence.

"What is this?" Medb wondered. Connla thought she'd been the one singing, but she had spoken while the song continued uninterrupted. Once the mysterious female finished summoning her minions, she stopped singing and hissed, _"Finally… Finally… After so many centuries… I have finally returned…"_

Connla's breathing stopped. Her chest suddenly felt like a tremendous weight had been shoved between her ribs. Her eyes were constricted into tiny dots.

"That voice…" she gasped.

A strong draft blew through the wrong side of the cavern, swaying both Servants' clothes from the violent gust. When it calmed down, they looked up at the new apparition which appeared before them. Connla's skin blanched even whiter than before, although it didn't compare to the pure white color that the ghost looming above her was cloaked in. Compared to the smaller wraiths that surrounded them, this one was about the size of 10 of them put together. Its bust was feminine, but the lower torso was covered in dozens of writhing ghost heads, all with similar ghastly expressions of horror and agony. A long white veil covered the mother spirit as if she were an unsent bride seeking vengeance against the suitor who wronged her.

The gigantic ghost looked down at Connla and choked in surprise as well. She murmured, "What is this? Why are _you_ here?"

She couldn't respond. Medb demanded, "What's the matter, Connie? Do you know this monstrosity?"

"She's…" she uttered, then swallowed and groaned, "She's… my mother…"

"… Are you serious?"

"Hoh," the spirit regained her senses and murmured in admiration. "I never thought I would see you again, my daughter. Yes, just as you surmise, I am the Scottish warrior woman Aife, and your mother. But what is this? While I have returned as a common wraith that could not become a Heroic Spirit, you stand before me as a full-fledged Servant. Why is this so? Why are you a Servant when you accomplished nothing of consequence and faded into obscurity, as was per your role in the Ulster Cycle?"

Connla couldn't say anything. She was so shocked to unexpectedly reunite with her mother that her throat tightened up. Aife grunted and said, "Well, no matter. To think that the World would only send two Servants to face me is quite hilarious. Once I eliminate you both, I can return to finally claim Scotland as my territory, as it should have been so long ago."

"Ah hah hah hah! Don't make me laugh!" Medb giggled. "I can see why no one ever wanted to remember you! You're nothing but a wannabe tyrant who never got to rise high enough! All anyone knows you as is one of Cu's passing flings, and the only one to give him a child!"

"… Are you asking me to kill you?"

"Oh, so sorry. The truth is that you can't even reach me. Do you know why? Because I have Connie to protect me!"

"Really, now? Then you picked the worst possible Servant to be your guardian, hussy."

"Tee hee. Call me what you want, but I have a good eye for choosing my private army."

"Then show me what you both have. But I'll be gracious enough to warn you ahead of time; there is no possible way for you to win."

With that, Aife continued singing the same haunting opera chorus, her voice echoing all around the empty cavern and relaying her indecipherable musical commands to the many wraiths. They descended upon Connla and Medb, and the Lancer immediately rushed in to confront them while the young queen stood back. While Connla was preoccupied with using her spells to banish the ghosts one by one, Medb used this time to take out a short blade and cut one of her fingers with it, allowing the blood to trickle onto the stone ground. The red fluid spattered, then started to foam with crimson froth until it formed into a humanoid shape. It wasn't just one blood-borne creature that emerged from the bloody foam, but perhaps dozens of copies of the same faceless entities.

"Go, my children!" Medb commanded, raising her riding crop. "Show these forgotten fools how wrong they were to pick a fight with the Eternal Lady of Connacht!"

The blood creatures lurched forth and ganged up on Aife's ghost army. The cave quickly turned into the scene of a violent raid between two unholy forces, and Connla jumped back to observe Medb's bizarre contribution to the battle.

 _Is this what she meant by her secret weapon?_

"Oh? Interesting," Aife chuckled. "So it is true – you really are the 'mother' and 'queen' of countless nameless soldiers."

"My, how flattering," Medb grinned. "It seems my unparalleled beauty and sovereignty reached all the way to Scotland."

"I admit, I heard a thing or two about you in my lifetime. However, that doesn't mean anything when we are denizens of the dead now. You might be able to spawn those things from your blood, but how long are you able to do that before your resources run dry? I, on the other hand, can sing but a simple song, and thousands of would-be Heroic Spirits shall come to aid me."

"Hmph…"

The Rider had to admit that her opponent made a good point. Not only did she have a limited amount of blood to spawn her soldiers from, she also wasn't at full power due to Ritsuka not strengthening her enough yet.

"Mother!" Connla shouted, running toward the gigantic veiled ghost and jumping high to slash her spear at her.

" _Insolent child!"_ Aife screamed and swung her bony arm at her daughter, smacking her so hard that she crashed through some stalagmites before smashing against the wall. As Connla reeled from the surprise pain, Aife gathered some energy and flung it at her head like a concentrated dart. The child rolled aside moments before the attack pierced the wall where she just was, covering her in falling rocks and dust. She mentally processed her harrowing escape while instinctively flipping about like a gymnast and hurling several fireballs at Aife. The ghost countered with more energy shots, but she was distracted enough for Connla to get back in close and enchant her spear with more Runes that would allow her to attack the undead. She thrust the polearm at Aife's midsection and gouged out a significant portion of her chest.

"KYAAAH!" the wraith screamed in unmitigated pain and reared back.

"Stop this already, Mother!" Connla shouted. "You need to go back to where you belong!"

"Shut up! A little whelp like you who failed to punish Cuchulainn for his transgression against me shouldn't be a Heroic Spirit either! You're nothing but a piece of garbage who failed to accomplish the most important mission of her life! So then why!? Why are _you_ a Servant and not me!?"

"I… I know I shouldn't be here. I admit… I'm nothing special compared to Father. But he's the one who wanted me to return, and he made a wish upon the Holy Grail for it to be so."

"That bastard…"

"And one more thing, Mother."

"Damn you! Don't call me that…!"

Connla fell silent for a moment. Then she asked quietly, "I've learned a lot about the outside world without you to influence me. Even if it's only a short time that I've been a Servant, I've come to realize something – the world might be cruel, but it's not as terrible as you always claimed it to be. I've told others of your so-called 'training' to toughen me up for the real world, and everyone has always reacted the same way to what your 'lessons' were."

"…"

"Mother… As much as I understand who you really are now, I need to hear it from you."

The child looked up at the seething apparition, then asked, "From the absolute bottom of your heart… do you hate me?"

Both Aife and Medb were appalled to hear that brutally honest question. Aife was so fixated on Connla that she wasn't summoning more lesser wraiths to contend with Medb's blood soldiers, so the fracas between the two forces was beginning to dwindle. This allowed Medb to run over to Connla and exclaim, "What in the world are you going on about, Connie? She's your mother, right? Why would you ask such an outrageous thing of her?"

Connla didn't respond with words. All she did was roll up the sleeve of her bodysuit to reveal her arm. All this while, she had kept everything except her face covered, so this was the first time anyone actually got to see what was beneath her outfit. Medb was stunned speechless as she saw what Connla had been hiding from everyone at Chaldea.

"A-Are those… from her…?" the queen stuttered.

Etched on the child's arm were countless numbers of scars that varied from light lacerations to deep gashes that healed poorly. The hollow grotto fell into complete silence as Medb observed the injuries. Although she only got to see her arm, she could safely assume that it was the same way with the rest of Connla's body. Granted she was quite abusive herself, but seeing these kinds of wounds on a small child made her want to retch.

"How… _repulsive_ …"

Connla rolled the sleeve back up, then faced Aife and waited for her reply. The veiled spirit hovered there for a moment, knowing that the deception was finally over.

"No, my Connla… I don't hate you…"

Aife appeared eerily indifferent for a moment as she said those promising words. For a moment, it looked like they were going to settle their differences and discuss things properly. Yes, things would be settled… But not in the way Connla was expecting.

" _ **I DETEST EVERY GODDAMN FIBER OF YOUR BEING!"**_


	4. The Seven-Year Constraint

**FATE/OUTSIDE EXPERIENCE**

 **Part II: Abhorrent Affection**

 **Chapter 4: The Seven-Year Constraint**

Back in Chaldea, Cuchulainn Alter was fast asleep in his quarters. He had been very busy these last few days due to Ritsuka bringing him along for multiple missions in a row. Her enthusiasm to test his abilities had gone a bit overboard, but at least he was a lot stronger compared to when she first summoned him. He had the toughness and resilience that she was looking for in a Servant, and she wanted him to reach his maximum peak as soon as possible. That was why he was so exhausted from all of the grueling fights he had to endure.

As his mind fell into the realm of dreams, a barrage of powerful images bombarded his subconsciousness. Eventually, the dreams were too much for him to take in, and he was forced to awaken. He wiped a bunch of sweat off his face and sat up on the bed. The sensation that lingered in him was extremely odd, as if he had transferred himself into someone else's body for a while and only just returned. It didn't feel like an ordinary dream either. It was more of a long-lost memory of his that had only resurfaced. He could remember the words he spoke as clearly as if he had said them:

 _"She's here… She's finally come as a Servant!"_

" _It's been a while, Connla. I was getting impatient with waiting for the World to summon you as my opponent."_

" _She is no unwanted bastard. I chose Aife to bear Connla because she was a magnificent warrior who could give me a child blessed with such skill. I waited in anticipation for Connla's arrival so I could pass my legacy to her."_

" _What if a hero were to fade into obscurity, never to ascend to the Throne!? Were their deeds not worth remembering!? Who decides who is worthy of remembrance!? What feats would a hero truly have to accomplish to remain in humanity's heart!?"_

" _You are just as pure and tragic as the innocent aliens who placed their trust in the real monsters – the humans who shattered that faith and used them as tools – and then were swept away as if they never existed."_

Cuchulainn just remained sitting there, his mind wandering back to the myriad of memories that didn't belong to him. He never uttered such words, nor did he possess any motivation to destroy for someone else's sake, yet the foreign emotions were incredibly familiar to him. Those thoughts and feelings didn't originate from his mind, but they had melded with him so perfectly that he mistakenly thought he was having déjà vu.

"Shit," he cursed and rubbed his forehead, fighting back a pounding headache. "The hell was that all about?"

During the otherworldly nightmare, he also caught glimpses of Connla and some other Servants who accompanied her. They all seemed to be in some desert place in the modern era, and that he was on the side of evil while his daughter represented the forces of good. He couldn't entirely remember what was going on, but he had a strong suspicion that it had something to do with the child. He actually found it odd that she had been summoned as a Servant when she didn't have a notorious reputation like many other Heroic Spirits did. Maybe this unknown incident had something to do with it.

Cuchulainn cursed at himself and left his room to look for her. Regardless if she was scared of him or not, he wanted to ask her if she knew anything about this mysterious alternate world. He heard rumors among the staff and fellow Servants that Connla was frequently seen with Leonardo Da Vinci in her workshop working on some top-secret project, so he headed straight for there. However, the lady inventor suddenly emerged from the CHALDEAS chamber and spotted him

"Cuchulainn!" she called to him.

"There you are. I've been looking for you," he muttered.

"You need me for something?"

"Where's Connla? I want to talk with her."

"Oh?" Da Vinci raised her eyebrows in curiosity. "I'm surprised you're being so straightforward all of a sudden. I know you've been keeping your distance from her ever since the two of you laid eyes on each other, so why the sudden change in heart?"

"You don't seem to get it. I'm not the one staying away from her. She's the one who becomes extremely nervous around me and refuses to make eye contact."

"So you're only upset about it just now?"

"Where do you get the idea that I'm upset with her? I'm a Servant who looks like Cuchulainn, yet my appearance and abilities are completely different than what she remembers. Of course she would be confused about me. I don't mind if she wants to stay away from me, so long as we do our jobs on the battlefield."

"Hmm… I wonder about that," Da Vinci smiled coyly.

Cuchulainn grumbled, "The hell you trying to insinuate?"

"You probably don't know, but she showed Ritsuka her adventure through an unknown Singularity. The real kicker is that her primary opponent was an even more alternate version of you – a Berserker-class Cuchulainn who loved Connla so much that he was willing to risk humanity's future in order to bring her back from the darkest brinks of the past. His vengeance warped his mind so much that he transformed into an Avenger. Ironically, it was because of that Cuchulainn's efforts that Connla's name was written in the Throne of Heroes, and Ritsuka was able to summon her."

He raised an eyebrow. "You don't say…"

"Oh my. You don't sound quite as surprised."

He hummed to himself as he thought of the dreams he'd been experiencing lately.

 _Those memories definitely aren't mine, yet they seem to sync with me so well that it's frightening. But if there had been a different Cuchulainn Alter in a different universe that no longer exists…_

"Something wrong?" Da Vinci asked.

"It's nothing. So where's Connla right now?"

"She's off on another one of my preliminary THREAD missions."

"THREAD? What is that supposed to be?"

"Just a little experiment I've been working on lately. She's been a huge help with gathering data for me, so we decided to ramp it up by having her exorcise some ghosts with a fellow Servant."

"Who's with her?"

"It's Med-! Ah…" Da Vinci flinched as she tried to stop herself, but it was too late. Cuchulainn heard enough of the name to recognize it immediately, and his heart throbbed with instant anxiety.

" _She's with Medb!?"_ he barked. His typically languid eyes suddenly took on a fiery cadence. "Of all the Servants here, _you had to send_ _ **Medb**_ _with her!?_ "

"Wait, that's not what happened-"

"Where are they!?"

"Ah, well, they're at the Aberdour Caves in 1320."

"Are you able to send me there too!?"

"I could try, but I haven't done enough tests to-"

"I don't care! Rayshift me there _right now_!"

"Whoa, calm down there…" Da Vinci winced. "I know you're worried about Connla, but-"

"I'm not worried about Connla! It's Medb that I'm concerned about! I know all too well what her demented imagination is capable of, and I don't want Connla to be exposed to any of it without me around to set things straight!"

"But Medb was all huggy-kissy and acting like a big sister towards her, so I figured it'd be okay."

"My _god_ , woman!" Cuchulainn snarled. "Don't you bloody get it!? Screw it, I could spend all day arguing with someone as stupid as you, but I'd just be wasting my energy. Get me to where they are so I can drag them back here!"

"Roger!" the inventor acknowledged and prepared to assign him as another one of Connla's Servants through the Bloodstone. "No promises, 'kay? If you wind up stranded in a time distortion, it's not my fault."

"In that case, I'll rip you to shreds once I return."

"Ooh, scary…"

Cuchulainn's body disappeared as he was thrown through the Rayshift tunnel. After he vanished, Da Vinci suppressed a hearty giggle and thought, _Who'd have thought the bloodthirsty Cu Alter would be such a Papa Wolf when it comes to Connla? It's just too adorable!_

* * *

Aife let out such an atrocious howl that if it didn't make the cavern shake around Connla and Medb, their souls definitely felt like they were going through an earthquake. After a split moment of silence, Connla finally processed her twisted mother's malicious insult. Her heart felt like it had been flash frozen, then transmitted that chill throughout her entire body.

"Moth… er…?" she murmured.

"Don't look at me with those pathetic eyes, you little leech!" Aife screeched. "I was enjoying a nice eternal nap where I didn't have to think about you, but _**NO**_! You had to waltz in and disrupt my sleep with your childish whining about whether or not I love you! How disgusting can you possibly be!? I can't believe I'm even wasting my time talking to you! Just go crawl in some dark corner and die!"

Medb exclaimed with an unusually angry expression, "How repulsive! Such rudeness will not be tolerated in my presence!"

"… I couldn't care less," Aife's demeanor turned cold toward the woman. "Besides, I don't want to hear any interruptions from you. I'm busy answering that filthy creature's stupid question."

"My goodness. Looks like I need to teach you a thing or two about tact around-"

A horrifying, black gust of wind swept through the cave and threw Medb off her feet. She slammed her back against the wall and slumped onto her buttocks, astonished by the raw power that just incapacitated her.

"I said no interruptions. Or do you want me to tear your head off and feed your spineless corpse to the dogs?" the wraith threatened. "That's assuming you even _have_ a spine to begin with. Maybe I should have some fun finding that out."

"Gah…"

"Queen Medb!" Connla tried to rush to her aid, but Aife teleported in front of her to block her passage.

"But before that…" the wraith glowered and readied her sinewy claws to slash in an X formation. Thin blue lines permeated the air as she swiped at her daughter, but missed since Connla deftly rolled beneath and stood between her and Medb.

"You wanted the truth, didn't you?" Aife retorted, her foul expression distorting into something out of an indescribable nightmare. "Then I'll bear my entire heart to you, just as you want! I doubt you will be able to stomach it, but that's just too bad! If you don't like it, go cry in a corner! Or better yet, kill yourself! You'd be doing everyone a favor by disappearing!"

"Mother…"

"Don't call me that, you little bitch! I didn't want to be your mother! I didn't want you to be born! I didn't want you to grow like a parasite inside me! But I had no choice! I was trapped by the promise that man forced me to make! If I didn't produce an heir for him, he would kill me! I had to do what he said and sacrifice my freedom to be your incubator! That's all I was to him – just another whore who produced an unwanted bastard child!

"As I looked upon your newborn face, all I could see was that man! So disgusting! So wretched! So foul! You had the same face as him! Every time I looked at you, I would be tormented by that bastard's smug visage as he violated me! Robbed of my womanhood, forced to raise a child I never wanted, abandoned so that he could go and fight that petty bitch over a goddamn animal! Ahhh, I thought I was going to die of embarrassment!"

Aife pointed her bony fingers at the slumped over Medb. If glares could become daggers, the queen's eyes would have turned the ghost into a pincushion.

"But then it came to me…" she continued, directing her warped eyes at Connla. "Since you had the same face as that man, it meant that I had the freedom to mete punishment upon you instead! Since you had his blood within you, it was fair game for me to satisfy my torn soul by doing whatever I pleased to you! Since he did whatever he wanted to me, I figured it would be fine for me to do the same to you! You were nothing more than his substitute to me! He wouldn't come rescue you anyway, so he'd be none the wiser!

"You might not remember, but the _instant_ you started acting petulant around me, I wouldn't hesitate to beat the insubordination out of you until you laid unconscious before me! I even had a druid come and use his magic on you to change your personality! That's how I was able to get rid of the petty brat that you would have become, and instead crafted you to be an emotionless doll who obeyed my every command! It was perfect! You really were my finest masterpiece! Even though you had that man's face, you still had my incredible toughness and beauty! No matter how much I battered you, you would heal back up and be my faithful mutt over and over again!

"I can't tell you how wonderful your tenacity was! I trained your body so hard that it would bleed until there was nothing left to bleed! You met all of my impossible expectations and even formulated a strategy that helped me win against a worthless invader when you were only three years old! I sent you to the Land of Shadows on your own the following year, hoping you would die a miserable death in there! I was not anticipating that you would find Scathach in that hellish wasteland and train under her! You were hideous, and amazing! Only a monster like Cuchulainn could give birth to another monster!

"When you finally turned seven, it was the happiest day of my life! That's because I could put those geasa on you and send you on your way to meet that man! That's right… I was so happy to finally be rid of you! I was free at last! I was back in paradise! No longer did I have to pretend to love someone I didn't want in my life! And with those curses, I knew you would be bound to fight that man to the death! I didn't care who won or lost! All that mattered was that he suffered for humiliating me! He definitely got what he deserved!"

"Tch…" Medb snarled, baring her teeth beneath her churned lips. "Such ugliness. Even I, as a queen who committed many atrocities in my own name, find this most difficult to watch!"

"What are you talking about, whore?" Aife laughed. "In your eyes, isn't that little leech just a replacement for that man as well? Since you couldn't slut your way into his arms, you'll use her as his stand-in! You'll gladly trample her so-called innocence so you can make that man suffer even more! Honestly, why are you looking at me with such malice in your eyes? We both share the same humiliation by that man's hands, right? Then it's perfect! _Go ahead and step all over his kid!_ _ **See if I care what happens to her! GYAH HAH HAH HAH HAH-!**_ "

All this while, the only thing Connla could do was listen as her undead mother bore her foul heart to her. For seven years, Aife had to carry those feelings like unwanted baggage, unable to cope with the shock of losing her womanhood to her enemy. She had been forced into the role of a mother, one which she was hardly ready to take on. To that end, Connla only existed as an outlet for Aife to vent her frustration upon through violence and insults disguised as 'endurance training'. She wanted her daughter to die, but the girl was always strong enough to survive her abuse. Since Connla was more tenacious than Aife expected, she went out of her way to completely warp her personality so that she never acted like a child in the first place.

Cuchulainn never came to rescue Connla either… hell, not even to _visit_ her _._ He was completely ignorant of how she had been raised. She knew it wasn't his fault; he was busy fighting the one-man war against Connacht for those seven years. He had a duty to protect his beloved Ulster, and she understood that. Since she didn't have anyone to give her their support, she had to make do by toughening her spirit and not raising a fuss whenever Aife got incredibly angry.

But not once did she ask about her mother's true feelings. It was always about taking care of herself, with little regard to how furious and heartbroken Aife was over losing her freedom. If Connla understood how Aife was so unhappy about being a parent, maybe things would have worked out differently. Maybe Connla could have left those mountains and went on her own as an adventurer, even if she was only a toddler at the time. That way, Aife could get her life back and find joy again.

"Mother… No, Aife," Connla closed her eyes sullenly.

"What!? You got something to say, brat!?" the vengeful wraith exclaimed.

After a long, deliberate pause, the little girl murmured, "… I'm so sorry. I should have been more thoughtful of you."

Aife stopped to register Connla's words in her mind. The three were engulfed in a powerful silence that they were afraid of shattering with unnecessary words.

"What…?" the ghost finally uttered in surprise.

"If I had known how much you hated Father for forcing you to be my mother…" Connla murmured. "If I had known… Maybe we could have talked it out. Maybe… I could have left so that you wouldn't have to shoulder me as a burden. I could have gone somewhere else… Or maybe I could have lived in the wild as a hunter… Anything to release you from me."

Aife was genuinely astonished to hear Connla say such things after being lambasted in the worst way possible. Her fury settled momentarily as she said, "No, you do not understand. I was bound by that man to raise you until you came of age."

"Bound? You mean he would threaten your life again if you failed to meet his expectations?"

"No, not through violence. That man… put a geas on me."

"A geas!?" Connla's eyes widened in shock.

"Not many know about this, but he cursed me to care for you until you were old enough to wear that ring."

The girl took off her glove and stared at the golden ring on her right thumb. Suddenly, it took on a much darker meaning than just the symbol of a promise between a child and the father she never met. It was a shackle that trapped her mother in a life she didn't want. It was only for seven years, but those days must have been absolute torture for Aife.

"I see…" the young Lancer moaned. "So there was no compromise…"

"Yes. That man tossed me into Hell itself, and then threw the key away."

Connla returned her gaze to the sight of the massive ghost looming over her and Medb. The horrible skeleton-like creature that Aife had become told her a lot.

 _She's still in Hell, isn't she?_

"But now, thanks to that one recognizing my suffering, I have clawed my way back from the darkest depths to take my revenge upon you and Cuchulainn!" Aife declared, spreading her bony arms apart gleefully.

 _She can't find a way to move on from her hatred for Father and I._

"If you're done yapping, then disappear from my sight, you worthless parasite! That festering pimple who calls herself a queen can join you in ruin as well!"

"Uuh…" Medb groaned as she struggled to get back on her feet. "Connie… Y-You have to… protect… your liege… You're my… knight… remember…?"

Connla looked back at her and replied with a sorrowful smile, "Don't worry. I know what I have to do."

She took a few steps towards her skeletal mother, no longer afraid of what the woman had become. Aife howled as she summoned more lesser wraiths by her side, intent on ambushing the pair and turning them into unsent ghosts as well. Connla wasn't deterred by the sudden army that Aife conjured. She raised her spear up high in a graceful motion. Then, in that tone of voice that sounded much older than she was, she murmured an ethereal chant while using her spear to draw a large Rune resembling the Christian cross, but with the horizontal line tilted.

" _Constraint gives scant choice. A naked man is chilled by the frost."_

She spun her weapon elegantly, then rested it vertically next to her as she whispered, _"Nauthiz."_

Suddenly, Aife's scream pierced the heavens. Her incorporeal form was engulfed in pure white flames and light, and she writhed and flailed about in a futile struggle to extinguish the blaze. All of the other ghosts howled as their lingering forms and worldly feelings were incinerated, allowing them to pass on to the next world. As the fire purified her hatred and gradually banished her back to the void, Aife fixed her gaze upon the stoic Connla and seethed darkly, _"I… hate… you…"_

Suddenly, the vengeful specter screeched and rushed straight for the astonished girl, transforming her skeletal fingers into a piercing blade that she sought to run the child through with.

" _ **Connie!"**_ Medb screamed and reached out.

The young Lander was surprised that her Nauthiz Rune didn't completely exorcise Aife, so she was rooted to the spot with fear and unable to move.

 _ **CRUNCH!**_

Aife stopped.

All movement ceased as instantly as it began.

It took a long moment to register what was going on, but Connla eventually noticed a familiar long red spear with jagged spikes stabbed clean through Aife's forehead. A large, muscular man stood between them and glared at the wraith with absolute malice in his glowing red eyes and a huge fanged grin plastered all across his face. He had one hand tightly gripped on his spear, while he used the other one to push Connla back to safety.

"It's… _you_ …!" Aife gasped.

"Long time no see," Cuchulainn Alter glowered.

"Why…? Why are you here…!?"

"Can't you tell? To clean up the mess that my idiot younger self left behind."

"Ah… Ugh… This can't… be…"

He looked back at Medb and muttered, "Hey."

"Cu, my love! You came to rescue me, just as I knew you would!" the queen crooned.

"Don't get any ideas, woman. Look, I need you to do me a favor."

"Of course! Anything for you!"

"Get Connla back to the entrance. I'll catch up with you guys shortly."

"Aww, you're so adorable! Then, I'll be waiting for you with Connie!" Medb exclaimed, then took the dumbfounded child's hand and urged, "Come on. Your daddy will take care of this."

She uttered pitifully, but had no energy to resist the woman's grasp, and they ran back the way they came. Cuchulainn watched them leave, then looked back at Aife and snarled, "Now that they're out of earshot, I can slaughter you at my leisure."

"You bastard…" the livid ghost seethed. "D-Do you have any idea… how much… you and that parasite… made me suffer…?"

"I think I can hazard a guess. After all, I heard that entire exchange between you and Connla as I was running here. Sounds carry much further in this cavern than I expected."

"You… piece of… shit…"

"I guess I am. I don't even begin to compare to you though."

Thoroughly disgusted with Aife's existence, Cuchulainn extracted Gae Bolg from her head, then lowered it upon his stricken foe multiple times.

* * *

Medb and Connla emerged back outside the beaches lining Aberdeenshire's coast. The duo spent some time gasping for air, relieved to see sunshine again after such a harrowing experience. Then, as if someone was placing the period to end this long-standing tragedy, they heard Aife's disembodied scream echoing from the far distance inside the cave. The chilling sound returned to silence, and the waves continued crashing on the craggy rocks.

"M-Mother…" Connla whimpered, fighting back her tears.

Medb didn't know what to say to the little girl. As she stood there listening to Aife cursing Connla's existence, followed by Connla apologizing for being a burden, something like an eldritch creature gnawed at her soul with its relentless fangs and threatened to break her as well. The inhumanity of it all made her want to vomit her insides. It was only due to Connla exorcizing the wraith that Medb was finally able to come back to her senses.

As she looked upon the little girl's stony expression and bloodstained spear though, the Queen of Connacht knew that the damage had been done. Normally, Medb would have relished in seeing someone so broken from being mangled beneath her foot. In fact, she was seeking to do something similar to Connla as vengeance against Cuchulainn, so that was why she took the girl on this outing. However, seeing how cruel Aife had been to her own daughter changed the queen's mind.

Yes, Medb hated Cuchulainn enough that she would invent creative ways to break his indomitable spirit. She was thrilled to have found a new method through his child, whom she had no idea he had given birth to during her lifetime. At the same time though, she also adored Cuchulainn enough to want him for her own, the same way she started an entire war over the prized bull Donn Cuailgne. She would do _anything_ to have Cuchulainn kneel before her and force him to acknowledge her peerless beauty and magnificence.

But not through Connla anymore.

Medb kneeled next to the child and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, cooing, "There, there, sweetie. Auntie Medb is here now."

Connla looked over at the queen. Her expression was still blank, but there was a tingle of puzzlement as well.

"Forget about that wench," the woman kept murmuring. "The only female whom you shall acknowledge as your mother figure is I, the Eternal Lady. You should feel honored to have won over this wicked queen's heart."

"…"

"Do you want to cry? Scream? Howl? That's fine. A pure-hearted girl who just went through hell has every right to shed her tears. I'm so proud of you for putting that monster to the blade and expelling her foul spirit. My favorite stories are the ones where a victim who has been so severely wronged returns that pain upon their oppressors. I'm so happy I got to witness your courage against that she-demon. Her words were terrible, but the story that unfolded before me was absolutely beautiful.

"So go ahead and cry to your heart's content. Your tears will be the precious gems I shall add to my treasury. Don't worry about whether or not killing her was evil. If you believe you have committed some kind of wrongdoing, tell me all about it, and I shall bear the burden of any perceived evil for you. I am already a wicked queen, so it's no big deal for me. But it would be a shame if you went down the same ugly path as me. You're Cu's baby girl, and as such, you should seek the path of righteousness as he did. That is what makes him so delightful for me to pursue. I know you will grow up to become a much better woman than either myself or Aife if you follow his path. Auntie Medb will make sure you don't do anything that I would so that such a future can come to fruition."

Medb's words barely registered in Connla's mind. Aife's verbal abuse was too fresh for her to acknowledge anything going on in the outside world.


	5. Alter vs Lancer

**FATE/OUTSIDE EXPERIENCE**

 **Part III: Challenge of Grief**

 **Chapter 5: Alter vs. Lancer**

Medb and Connla waited outside the dark grotto for Cuchulainn's return. Even though the young queen did her best to console her partner, the little girl refused to lighten her mood. How could she? She just heard some of the worst insults that a mother could ever spit at her child. Connla thought of her life, and how she had wasted it obeying someone who didn't care about her whatsoever. She had been completely deceived about Aife's abuse being a method of strengthening her mind and body. That got her thinking about which of Aife's teachings were lies such as that. Were all of her lessons the same way? Did Connla have to discard every possible thing she ever learned from her?

If she did, she would have to start all the way back at zero. The prospect terrified her – she would be totally lost without any sort of guidance to rely upon.

As the child was lost in those depressing thoughts, she and Medb noticed Cuchulainn's tall figure emerge from the darkness and approach them with a vacant expression on his face.

"Geez, what took you so long?" Medb asked and ran up to him.

He didn't care about dealing with the selfish matriarch at the moment. He walked past her before she could try to hug his arm, and he didn't even make eye contact with her. He was solely focused on his despondent daughter, and he kneeled in front of her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She glanced aside at the waves crashing upon the beach. She was so tired that she didn't even want to talk.

"I thought so," Cuchulainn murmured sullenly. "At least you're in one piece though."

"She did a really good job protecting me, Cu," Medb said. "She almost had that foul apparition exorcised too, but its will to remain in this world was much stronger than we realized."

"How the hell did Aife wind up appearing in this world anyway?"

"Hmm… I think she said something about how some person 'recognized her suffering' and helped her return to the mortal world. I think she was trying to take over this country and cause a Singularity on this mystery person's behalf."

"That's not good. We'd best return and tell Master all about this. If there's a higher power at work here, there could be more disturbances that those brainiacs need to find."

"You got that right," the queen nodded, then patted Connla's head and said, "Come on, Connie. I know you're upset, but we need to get back right away."

"Mm…"

"I promised to take you bathing in a spring when we were done here, but I guess that'll have to wait. On the plus side, at least I can see about finding a hot spring that will reduce your scars. Then you won't have to worry about being embarrassed with showing your body to everyone."

Cuchulainn raised an eyebrow. "Scars?"

Connla paled and crossed her arms over her chest in fright. "I-It's nothing. It's no big deal…"

"What?" Medb wondered. "You mean you haven't showed him yet!?"

"Uh… Um…"

He glared at her right in the eye and ordered, "Show me."

"Um… Well, that's… I mean… Say, shouldn't we be getting back already? Ms. Da Vinci is probably worried about-"

She tried to dismiss the conversation and walk on ahead of them. Suddenly, Cuchulainn shot his large tail in front of her, piercing it into the boulder directly in her face. Tiny rock fragments spilled onto the sand, and she stared at the spiked black tail in shock.

"I won't say it again," he scowled.

Connla fell silent, hugging her chest to contain her shaking. He wasn't going to let her go until he saw those marks. After shivering in reluctance for a bit, she finally took her sleeve and rolled it up again to show him her extensive scars. His eyes widened and his lips thinned. He took her arm in his hands and inspected the many blemishes carved onto her skin. He looked at her again and asked shakily, "Is it like this everywhere else?"

"Mm…" she mumbled and nodded.

A fearsome chill coursed through his bloodstream. He sighed, then suddenly scooped his hands beneath her armpits and picked her up. He muttered, "Come on. That's enough adventuring for one day."

She slumped her arms over his broad shoulders, clearly looking too exhausted to do anything further. She barely weighed anything in his arms as he carried her up the hill – he actually found her to be lighter than Gae Bolg. Medb remained close to him, smirking in both admiration and slight jealousy of Cuchulainn's unbridled affection for Connla. They returned to the summoning circle and Rayshifted back to Chaldea.

* * *

Da Vinci was busy monitoring Connla's Bloodstone and making sure nothing went wrong during the mission. She was especially concerned about what could happen after she registered Cuchulainn as Connla's emergency Servant and sent him to the past. Once the trio emerged from the Bloodstone however, she could see that everything had gone off without any issues. She was a bit surprised to see the colossal Berserker carrying the petite Lancer, but she figured that the child was just tired from her excursion.

"Welcome back!" she chirped. "How did it go?"

"It was so fun!" Medb smiled. "Just as I predicted, Cu was motivated to come to my rescue thanks to Connie being with me! It was like my greatest dream come true!"

Cuchulainn snapped, "Stop lying, woman. That's hardly what happened at all."

"Oh, okay. So what if I took a few creative liberties with that story. The important thing is that we took care of the problem you were detecting earlier."

"Excellent," Da Vinci said. She looked at Connla's tired face and asked, "Is she okay?"

"Hardly," Cuchulainn muttered grimly. "She's going to need some time off from your little experiment."

"Is that so? How unfortunate. I thought for sure she would be tough enough to handle the baddies on her own."

"Making a seven-year old kid run such dangerous errands for you… Do you not know the concept of shame?"

"What's with the animosity? She agreed to help me out for Ritsuka's sake."

"You could at least run it by me first."

"My, I'm quite surprised!" Da Vinci grinned smugly. "I didn't know Connla would be Daddy's Little Girl to our resident Mad King! Should we start calling her a princess?"

"Shut the hell up," he retorted, while Medb fought to keep her laughter under control.

"But even if I had known to tell you first, I doubt you would have given your seal of approval. Besides, she's old enough to decide for herself!"

"I wonder about that…" Cuchulainn's already sour expression turned slightly grim. "In any case, if you're done trying to piss me off, I'm gonna put the kid down for the night. Don't think that this conversation is over though, you obnoxious smartass. You and I have a lot to talk about concerning Connla's involvement with your work."

Da Vinci and Medb watched the angry man leave with his fatigued daughter. The brown-haired genius put a finger to her mouth and dubiously muttered, "Goodness, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

"Aw, don't let it get to you. There was a lot that happened, so Connie's going to be a bit out of it for a while, both physically and mentally. Not that I mind – it just means that Auntie Medb has a good reason to cozy up to her!"

"Ah, about that… Actually, I have the entire battle recorded. I know exactly what Aife said to get her so upset. That was some seriously nasty stuff, let me tell you."

"Ah!? Can I listen, can I listen!? No, better yet! I want a copy of it! It'd make excellent blackmail material against Cu!"

"Sorry, but it's strictly for research purposes. Top secret and confidential, you hear? I don't want you gossiping about Aife's insults to the other Servants either, or I might have to ask Ritsuka to command you to do something… _unpleasant_ ," Da Vinci said this with a sunny smile that reeked of sarcasm.

"Boo," Medb stuck her tongue out like what a little brat would do. "Such a waste, but oh well. Don't worry about me spreading the word to anyone. I don't want Connie to suffer from that horrible woman's wrath any more than she needs to."

"Excellent. Well, I'm off to analyze the data. Go ahead and take a break," Da Vinci said and left.

* * *

The following morning, after Connla had plenty of rest, Cuchulainn Alter went to her room to see about giving her a bath. He wasn't satisfied with seeing the scars just on her arm – he needed to see what the rest of her looked like. Was it some kind of demented curiosity he had? He hoped that wasn't the case. All he wanted was to confirm how bad Aife's hatred really was, and how much Connla suffered due to his mistake of forcing the woman to be a mother when she didn't want to be one. He wanted to burn the image of those marks in his mind so that they served as a reminder never to be so stupid again.

Once Cuchulainn entered however, he couldn't find the girl anywhere. He looked around until he came upon the locked washroom and knocked on the door.

"Connla? Are you in there?" he called out.

"… What do you want?" was the bitter response.

"I was thinking of scrubbing your back. Can I come in?"

To his surprise, she objected in a loud voice, "Absolutely not!"

"Hmph," he grunted and thought, _Figures she wouldn't let me in…_

He then said, "Listen to me. I know you've had it rough this whole time. I just want to make things a little easier for you. But I can't do that if you keep shutting me and everyone else out."

"You're lying," she retorted, then he heard her sniffling. "You want to laugh at how ugly I look."

Cuchulainn's chest seemed to leap like a frog from that unexpected accusation. "That's not true at all! I would never laugh at you!"

"You're the Berserker version of Father, aren't you!? If I showed you what I really look like, who knows what you'll do! You might even kill me to wipe the memory clean from your mind!"

He was absolutely appalled that she would claim something so outrageous. His simmering anger now boiled and threatened to explode, so it was a real struggle to keep his temper under control. He grit his teeth and tightened his fist to calm himself down first, then replied, "Don't be a fool! This is the first time I've gotten to see you in centuries! I just-!"

" _ **GO AWAY!"**_

The man stopped. He never thought he would get to hear Connla shriek at the top of her voice in such dire panic. He spent another moment to regain his composure, then said, "Fine. I'll leave you alone for now. But don't think that this conversation is over, young lady. There's still a lot we need to talk about."

"…"

Disappointed that he wasn't able to make any progress with her, he turned and walked out of her room in silence. Although he kept his anger to a bare minimum, he was absolutely livid with how his past mistakes caused her such tremendous sorrow and depression.

 _Shit… She's right. I might be Cuchulainn, but I'm still a Berserker. If I mess up, my uncontrollable bloodlust might wind up hurting her even more. There must be something I can do with this festering hatred…_

Whenever his destructive urges threatened to get the better of him like this, a trip to the virtual training simulator was what he needed to calm himself down. However, whether it was fortunate or not, he happened to cross paths with one of his other 'selves', who was also intent on using the training facilities to let out some pent-up combat lust.

"Yo, Alter," Cuchulainn Lancer waved at him casually. "You itching to beat up some digital beasts as well?"

If Cu Alter's fury wasn't already explosive enough, seeing his normal self striding along without a care in the world threatened to detonate that rage into a nuclear bomb of violence right then and there.

"Yeah…" he muttered flatly.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Lancer wondered. "You look like you could eat a dragon alive."

"…"

"Something bothering you?"

Alter glared at Lancer for a long moment. Then, an idea sparked in his mind, and his fanged grin crept across his face. He asked in an ominous tone, "Say, are you up for a duel right now?"

"Huh? Of course I am. Are you saying you want to be my opponent?"

"Heh heh… That's exactly it."

"Perfect! It'll feel kind of weird fighting myself, but I know you'll give me a good challenge!"

"Oh, I'll give you more than you can handle, you worthless idiot."

Lancer's expression suddenly turned angry, and he shouted, "What was that!? You want to say that to my face, punk!?"

Both Cuchulainns conjured their versions of Gae Bolg in their hands simultaneously, then got into their combat stances. Alter's unfeeling grin refused to crack as he retorted, "I'll say it as many times as I want. Ireland's greatest hero? The Child of Light? What a goddamn joke. You're a complete lowlife who doesn't deserve to be remembered, never mind summoned as a Servant."

" _Hey!_ What brought this on all of a sud-!?"

Before Lancer could finish shouting, Alter immediately rushed at him and swung his spear about wildly. Lancer countered with an equally powerful array of polearm slashes that blocked Alter's frenzy. Both men pushed each other away, then Lancer planted his Gae Bolg into the ground and flung over the weapon like a track and field pole vaulter would, stretching his leg out to whip it square against the nape of Alter's neck. He cringed hard and struggled to not black out, but he held on to consciousness and snatched Lancer's ankle in his vice grip. With an enraged roar, he swung his other self around in an arc and hurled him at the wall. Lancer used his inhuman reflexes to turn his feet towards the wall and crouch vertically like a spider for a split second before launching off and barreling back at Alter.

They got into another savage dervish of spears and wild movement. To an onlooker, their reactions looked completely random and impossible to figure out, but there really was a method to their madness. Since they were both Servants spawned from the same man, it made sense that they would know exactly how to fight against what was essentially a clone of themselves.

"Damn you!" Lancer cursed. "You better explain what's with that attitude of yours, chump!"

"If you can't figure it out, then you're an even bigger idiot than I imagined," Alter sneered. "You want a hint, dumbass? Then I'll give you one right now."

He jumped back and wielded his Gae Bolg like a javelin, then summoned its power to unleash his Noble Phantasm.

" _You crazy motherfucker!"_ Lancer screamed and likewise used his Barbed Spear to call upon the exact same Noble Phantasm.

" _ **GAE… BOLG!"**_ both men shouted in perfect unison, even sharing the same pitch for a second, before they hurled both lances at each other. The two identical spears shot straight for their hearts, but the dual power of reversing cause and effect clashed in an epic storm of red blades and sparking energy. Under normal circumstances, the Noble Phantasm was flawless in its ability to pierce the victim's heart before the spear was even thrown, going so far as to defy reality and physics to make that outcome happen. But when a second Gae Bolg of equal strength and evasion were to counter the first one, it would be impossible for both to seek their prey while trying to evade a weapon that could never be dodged. In other words, it was a perfect stalemate.

Both rampant Gae Bolgs destroyed about half of the training facility, craving their jagged blades through the walls and floors like a sharp knife butchering meat. The two Servants had no choice but to recall their weapons and glare at each other with fiery maliciousness.

"Heh," Lancer chuckled. "How in the world was that supposed to hint at anything?"

"You still don't get it?" Alter frowned, looking angrier than he did before. "Must be nice to live in complete ignorance. You don't have to worry about anything if you don't know about it."

"Then tell me already, dammit! I'm not going to get anything by you trying to murder me!"

"Screw it. I'm done trying to make you understand. _Get out of my sight, dog!_ "

Alter prepared to go in for the kill, leaping high over Lancer and swinging his spiked spear over his head. As he bore it down upon the other Servant's head, that was when he smashed against a huge slab of metal that barely budged against his immense might. He landed, then glared at the obstacle that got in his way. It was a familiar human-sized black shield that belonged to the only Shielder-class Servant in all of Chaldea; the Demi-Servant Mash Kyrielight. Behind Alter, he could hear the door whirr open, and Ritsuka barged in.

"That's enough, you two!" Mash shouted angrily. "What in the world has gotten into you, Alter!? Lancer is an ally! You can't just go killing him!"

"Tch… Get out of my way, Kyrielight," he demanded harshly. "That fool needs to pay for his sins."

"Sins? What are you talking about?"

Alter snarled his teeth, then ceased his attack and removed Gae Bolg from her blocking shield. He swiped it, then made it disappear before he exclaimed, "For the crimes he committed against his child!"

Lancer widened his eyes. "You mean Connla!?"

"That's right! You have no idea how much pain she's been in! While you were busy being a world-famous hero and screwing around with every beautiful woman you meet, she was shouldering all of the burdens of your mistakes!"

"I… I know I messed up. I was the man who ended her life. I was a fool to not look for her ring first before we got into that fight-"

" _ **NO!**_ _That's not what I'm talking about!_ " Alter screamed. _"Do you even know what she looks like underneath her outfit!?"_

"Wha-?"

Now that Lancer thought about it, he really didn't know. Connla was always in the habit of covering herself from the neck down, even constantly keeping her hands beneath a pair of gloves when it wasn't necessary.

Ritsuka asked, "Did you get to see, Alter?"

"Yeah, I did…" the Berserker seethed. "… Scars. Nothing but old wounds… Different shapes and sizes… _Hundreds_ of them…! _All of them…_ _ **were caused by Aife!**_ "

Lancer's heart sunk as hard as his jaw did. The angry creases on his face changed into abject horror. Mash covered her mouth, astonished from hearing something so tragic and disgusting. Alter couldn't stand to look at his other self looking so pathetic anymore, and turned away in revulsion.

As he left the training simulator in a heavy silence, he muttered to Lancer, "The only reason I'm letting you live is so I don't make Connla any more sad than she already is. But know this, you degenerate - I'll _never_ forgive you."

Without another word, he left the other three to sort themselves out.

* * *

It wouldn't be for another week that Connla finally decided to try venturing outside her room. After the incident with Aife, she had confined herself to her bed and refused to talk to anyone, telling those curious enough to disturb her to leave her alone. She was so lost in her thoughts that she was flat out bedridden with depression for two whole days. Naturally, she didn't have the energy to go out on missions with Ritsuka and Mash. Luckily it was a quiet period for Chaldea, so there wasn't anything urgent that they needed her assistance for.

 _Hah… This is bad…_ she thought. _If I don't do something, I think I'll go crazy…_

Although Connla's body was exhausted, her soul ached for her to do something with this pent up energy she had been containing. The trouble was that she didn't want to run into any of the Cuchulainns while she was outside, or else she would lose the drive she'd been building up this whole time and lock herself back up. That was why she acted with extra caution, carefully opening her door and checking to see if anyone was around. She didn't spot anyone, so she stepped out and jogged toward Da Vinci's workshop as quietly as she could.

It was around 2 AM right now, and the Arctic skies were pitch black. Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see the many snow-capped peaks and valleys that stretched for miles in the horizon. Heavy winds howled past the windows, carrying bits of snow along that pitter-pattered against the glass. Of course, Servants usually weren't bothered by extreme temperatures since they were basically high-density spirits, but sometimes their habit of wearing appropriate attire for the weather showed itself. Connla shuddered a little, disturbed by the idea of being thrown out into the middle of that sub-zero snowstorm with nothing but her nightgown on.

She shook the thought out of her mind and reached the atelier. Just as she expected, Da Vinci was wide awake and busy with her work. She heard the door slide open and was surprised to see her young visitor.

"Oh my," she greeted her with her usual smile. "What are you doing here at this time of the night?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"That's not good. Do you want to hear a bedtime story then?"

Connla narrowed her eyes and grumbled darkly, "Don't make fun of me…"

"I wasn't. Sometimes a good story is all you need to get those peepers shut."

"If that was what I wanted, I would've went to the library. Mr. Shakespeare would never notice me falling asleep when he's lost in one of his spiels."

"Heh heh, guess you got me there. So what do you need me for?"

"I want to go somewhere that's nice and quiet."

"You mean you want to Rayshift somewhere?" Da Vinci wondered. "I don't think that's a good idea. Your father and I discussed about your THREAD missions, and he's getting worried about the danger you're putting yourself in."

"Which one of my 'fathers' are we talking about here?"

"Oh, that's right. I keep forgetting there are four Cuchulainns… Of course, I'm talking about Alter."

"Him again," Connla scoffed tiredly. "Why does he keep hanging around me so much?"

"You already know the answer to that question, don't you?"

"…"

Da Vinci sighed, feeling conflicted about whether or not to grant the girl's request. Then she had an idea and said, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Alter and Medb warned us about the potential of some mastermind lurking in the shadows and causing trouble across human history. We're not sure who is the cause of Aife's summoning in Scotland, but if she claimed that someone is behind it, then we have to take it at face value. On that note, we've had SHEBA working overtime to detect similar disturbances to that one, and it located another anomaly.

"I was planning on attaching a different Servant with a fresh Bloodstone and sending them on this mission, but if you want to take a look around, then the search will go a little faster. But this time, all I want you to do is find the nearest Leyline, establish a summoning circle, then Rayshift home the instant you're done. No fighting any enemies, got it?"

"That's fine," Connla nodded. "Where did SHEBA locate this disturbance?"

"Somewhere in Great Britain during the early 1100s. It'd be great if you finished quickly so that Alter doesn't get mad at me for ignoring him."

"Leave it to me."

* * *

After she finished Rayshifting from Chaldea, Connla opened her eyes and discovered herself to be in the middle of a forest in the early afternoon. The glow of the sun was partly obscured by countless leaves, dappling light in random patterns amidst the shadows. A small brook flowed nearby, and birds chirped in the distance. She was silent, not wanting to disturb this idyllic atmosphere with any words.

The floating Saint Quartz that Da Vinci used to communicate hovered next to the girl, and the inventor's voice chimed in, "Did you make it okay?"

"Mm-hmm," Connla mumbled listlessly.

"All right. I know you want some quiet time, but don't forget to find that Leyline, okay?"

"Mm…"

Da Vinci cut the feed, allowing the young Lancer to keep to herself while surrounded by real nature, not the chilling Arctic winds that constantly surrounded Chaldea. She wasn't sure where she was or what time she was in, but she didn't really care. The world looked the same no matter where she went. She just didn't want to bother dealing with people for a little while.

Without thinking, Connla began walking through the forest, feeling dead leaves and twigs crunching beneath her boots. She followed the bubbling water, believing it would lead her to a larger water source. She sensed some magical energy coming from the earth a few kilometers away, so she kept on that course for about an hour.

All the while, her mind couldn't stop assailing her with thoughts of the trials and hardships she had been forced to endure until now. First was the battle with Cuchulainn that she lost in her lifetime; then the struggle to save the world from a maddened Cuchulainn; then her fight against the wyvern in France. Worst of them all were the curses and insults that Aife screamed at her, calling her worthless trash and a disposable tool that had no value in human history.

 _Fight… fight… fight… It's endless…_

That was all Connla understood; fighting. Whether it was raising a weapon against an enemy or contending with emotions that would rip normal men apart with madness, she was always fighting to stay sane and alive. Even her own family were her enemies. The foundation she believed she had with Aife was destroyed, and Cuchulainn was mainly concerned about her as a warrior, not necessarily as a father. Scathach was probably someone she still respected, but the ruler of Dun Scaith was a teacher first and foremost, not a person who could be confided in. As far as Connla could tell with Medb, the queen fawned over her only as a way to get closer to Cuchulainn. Ritsuka and Mash were always busy with their missions. She also had a hard time making any friends with the other staff and Servants. It was just as frustrating to constantly hear them say that she should act more appropriate for her age, or that her mature mannerisms disturbed them. There weren't any other Servants in her age range either; pretty much everyone was a teenager or an adult.

 _What am I even fighting for? To save humanity?_

Maybe that was the case. She certainly wanted to contribute to the Grand Orders in any way she could. But was that her personal motivation as well? Was such a vague, grandiose goal the only thing she could cling to anymore? She was smart enough to know that trying to be a hero who saved everyone by virtue of goodness and righteousness was complete nonsense, yet she didn't really have a personal wish to strive toward. In other words, she wasn't selfish, but she wasn't selfless either.

What did she want to do with her life as a Servant? Who did she want to share her dreams, joys and tears with? Did she even have the capacity to trust others anymore? All of the beliefs that others expected her to inherit turned out to be false, so what was she supposed to believe in anymore? Connla was lost in a mental quagmire. Her mind kept sinking further and further into the swamp of depression. She had no idea how to get out of this funk other than to take a long stroll where no one would bother her.

 _Maybe I should just give up trying to find happiness. After all, I'm a Servant – a ghost from the past summoned to fight. It really should be that simple. Yeah… simple is the way to go. I might be miserable, but at least my path is secure. We Servants aren't supposed to find joy in life because we're already dead. Therefore, it's logical to discard the notion of happiness for ourselves and concentrate on securing the future for today's living people._

She didn't like the idea at all, but there was nothing else she could think of. It was a grim realization to be sure, but it certainly beat feeling lost all the time. It didn't do anything to calm her depression though, so she just kept walking. Maybe burning off this excess energy was what she needed right now. Then she could go back and get a reprieve from these feelings with some sleep.

Satisfied with this conclusion, Connla eventually reached the edge of the forest and emerged before a massive lake. It was the perfect scenery for a picnic or a romantic date, but she didn't have any food or a partner to partake in any leisurely activities with. The water only rustled from the breeze, but was otherwise still. It brought a sense of peace, and she had thoughts in the back of her mind that she wouldn't mind just staying here for the rest of her life. She knew she couldn't do that though. It was forbidden to stay in any divergent timeline for too long, so the next best thing was to sit down in a fetal position and stare at the lake in silence.

The heavy sensation in her chest was too much for her to hold back anymore, so she buried her face against her knees and cried for a long while, until she eventually fell asleep.

* * *

Beneath the water of that same lake, something was stirring to life. A strange, black substance gurgled at the lake bottom like small tendrils, then made their way along the surface to cover it in darkness.


	6. Swallowed In Darkness

**FATE/OUTSIDE EXPERIENCE**

 **Part III: Challenge of Grief**

 **Chapter 6: Swallowed In Darkness**

"-la! Connla!"

"Hm…?" the girl stirred awake.

"Connla! Are you there!? Come in, please!"

"M-Ms. Da Vinci?"

"Thank god! You need to return to Chaldea immediately!" the inventor's voice sounded uncharacteristically panicky.

"What? Why-?"

That was when Connla saw it. The tranquil blue lake she had been napping in front of was now a deep ebony black, as if someone swooped in and replaced the water with tar. Although it was mid-afternoon, the sky was dark as night, with no moon or stars to decorate the stygian canvas surrounding her. No birds or creatures could be heard – everything was perfectly silent save for the ripples on the lake. Once the sight jolted her awake, that was when she sensed a malicious presence nearby.

"Something's here…" she gasped and got to her knees.

Da Vinci desperately urged, "Get out of there already! Whatever it is, you can't fight it!"

Connla wanted to obey her instructions, but she was paralyzed with fright. Her gaze was fixed on the very center of the lake where a mass of black ink swirled out of the water and grew bigger until it materialized into a humanoid figure. Then the person stood up, somehow magically remaining on the lake's surface even though he should have sunk. From head to toe, the man was completely dressed in black armor and clothing. His helmet immured his entire head and face in darkness save for a red visor that glowed horizontally, serving as the only source of illumination around him. A long feathery plume rose from the helmet's apex. From Connla's perspective, he was the embodiment of midnight itself.

"Of all the-!" Da Vinci cursed in a shrill tone. "It's a Berserker! You need to run, _now_!"

"But…"

Right then, the armored knight turned his sights toward the little girl when he heard her voice. Sweat poured down her face as she stared back at him. They remained like this for a few, agonizingly long seconds, neither refusing to budge. Then he shuddered so much that his armor creaked.

" _ **GRRR~RRUUUUUUU~UUUURRRGH!"**_

Water spurted around him like a sudden geyser, then parted as Berserker's body slashed through the lake straight for Connla. She gasped and instinctively rolled aside milliseconds before he cleaved through the ground she previously was on. She clumsily tumbled across the grass and landed face-first nearby. After breathing to compose herself, she got to her knees and gazed wide-eyed at him as he slid upon the ground and grabbed a fallen tree trunk. Judging from his constant transfixed stare on her, she could tell that she was his target.

 _I wish I could ask him why he's attacking me, but if he's a Berserker, he won't possess enough reason for me to have a conversation with him,_ she realized.

Faced with no other choice, Connla brandished her spear and announced to Da Vinci, "Preparing to engage the enemy!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" the inventor objected. "That Servant's power is through the roof! You have to get out of there!"

"But my geas won't allow me to flee!"

"Guh!"

Da Vinci immediately remembered the three geasa that the young Lancer was bound to. One of them forced her to fight any opponent who would ever challenge her, and it was impossible for her to disengage from it until either the enemy was dead or surrendered, or she was killed. Before the inventor could think of anything, Connla ran towards him while chanting the Runes to give herself Protection From Arrows. Meanwhile, Berserker dug his hand into the tree he was carrying and transformed it into a black mass with red veins running along it, prepared to face his young foe.

" _ **MRAAAGH!"**_ Berserker roared, initiating the fierce battle. He slammed his impromptu weapon into the ground where she was, but she vaulted sideways and swung as hard and accurately as she could. He lost sight of her from the rising smoke, so she got in a few strikes at parts of his limbs that weren't covered in armor. Both of them fell into a dazed frenzy as they remained rooted in that spot and clashed over and over again. Berserker struggled to get in any hits against her, but Connla's incredible reflexes plus her enchantment made it almost impossible for her to be attacked.

What he did next though was beyond belief. Once she destroyed enough of the tree trunk he was using, he discarded it and leapt backwards toward the corrupted lake. Letting out another guttural howl, he raised his arms in a hulking stance. Suddenly, the blackened water spawned veiny red lines on its surface before various aquatic pseudopodia sprung to life and flailed about.

"Unbelievable!" Connla yelped, horrified by Berserker's capabilities. "Have you turned the lake itself into your weapon!?"

" _ **GRRRRGH!"**_

He reached his hand out and mentally commanded one of the watery tentacles to transform into a dark, translucent axe that he could wield. Other tentacles morphed into bows and arrows, swords, or lances that fit the medieval period they were in.

"This is bad!" Da Vinci exclaimed. "If he continues to corrupt that lake, a Singularity will definitely occur!"

"What do you mean?" Connla asked.

"The era you're in right now is Britain years before King Arthur would take the throne of Camelot and command the Knights of the Round Table. One of the Knights was Sir Lancelot, who is going to be raised by the Lady of the Lake a few years from now. It is also where the sacred sword Excalibur originated, and was to be returned there by Sir Bedivere after Arthur's death. That lake is the very same one you're fighting at!"

"No way! So if the lake is ruined…"

"I'm afraid so - Britain's history will be changed for the worse!"

Connla clenched her teeth and glared at Berserker, imploring, "You need to stop this! I don't know who you are or why you seek to challenge me, but if you persist on corrupting that lake, this timeline will be destroyed!"

" _ **RRAAAGH!"**_ he ignored her pleas and ran straight for her. This time she was on the defensive as he swung his water axe about, smashing it into the ground and causing bits of dirt and grass to explode around them. She shrieked as the force threw her away, but she couldn't afford to spend any time recovering; the arrows started firing multitudes of high-density water bubbles at her. On their own they were harmless, but when shot at neck-breaking speeds they were extremely deadly for her small body to handle. She flipped, vaulted and spun about crazily to avoid the projectiles – some maneuvers were humanly impossible for her, so her Runes activated and forced her to move her arms and legs in ridiculous contortions.

"Ungh!" she squealed as some of her muscles screamed in pain. She opted to fight water with fire, so she conjured some quick Ansuz Runes and sent them hurtling at the nearest bubbles that would strike her. The small fireballs countered the water spurts and enveloped the immediate area in such thick steam that Berserker couldn't see where Connla was. After it dissipated, he looked around and noticed that she was gone.

" _ **Hah… Ungh… UUUUWWAAAAAA~AAAAAA~AAAHHH!"**_

* * *

"Hah… hah… hah…!"

Connla's breathing was hard and labored, her heart pounded furiously, and she was drenched in sweat. While the steam blinded Berserker for those precious moments, she had retreated into the forest and hid behind a thick tree. She could hear the mad knight's frustrated scream in the distance as he realized his prey was missing.

"M-Ms. Da Vinci," she whispered, "do you have any information on this Servant? Is there anything that can help me out?"

"I'm looking as fast as I can," the genius replied as quietly as she could. "Judging by his abilities, it seems his Noble Phantasm involves turning any object around him into a lesser Noble Phantasm that he can use. That's why he corrupted that tree trunk he was using earlier, and how he could command the lake to make water-based weapons."

"I noticed it too – that tree he had was definitely fortified. Normally it wouldn't take so many blows for me to reduce that kind of wood to splinters."

"I can understand him utilizing solid matter, but I'm surprised by how he can manipulate liquid matter like that. You should get away from that lake and any other bodies of water in the meantime."

"But I already told you that my geas-"

"This is different. You just need to draw him out into the open and fight him in a spot where he can't grab hold of anything."

"Oh, I see. So where should I-?"

" _ **GRRRAAAAAHH!"**_

Berserker's roar pierced the air and made Connla's heart leap. Her eyes widened into horrified orbs as she looked back and discovered him standing near the tree she was hiding behind. He slashes his axe at her head level, intent on swiftly decapitating her. She ducked low and rolled along the ground, leaving the vicious weapon to effortlessly cleave clean through the thick tree. She shakily got to a kneeling position and stared in shock at Berserker, and he returned the gaze as the tree crashed with a powerful thud behind him.

* * *

By now, several of Chaldea's staff members and some curious Servants were gathered around the chamber, after word spread that their youngest Heroic Spirit was fighting against one of the world's strongest Berserkers in an endangered timeline. Roman asked Da Vinci, "What's the situation?"

"It's not good," she replied grimly. "She's simply way too weak to challenge him on her own. If she had established a summoning circle before getting into this fight, we'd be able to send backup for her. At this rate, we might wind up losing her, and risk allowing a Singularity to occur."

Cuchulainn Lancer was also there, and he grit his teeth in silent concern for his daughter. Medb stood next to him and wrapped her arms around his. Normally he would shove her away, but he barely noticed her. He wished there was some way he could go to help Connla, but because she hadn't established a summoning circle yet, it was much too dangerous for anyone to go after her. All he could do was pray for her victory and safe return.

 _Hang in there, kiddo…_

While everyone else was huddled about in the chamber, one particular Servant kept to himself just outside the door, leaning against the wall while keeping his arms arrogantly folded. He didn't say or do anything to contribute to the conversation, but he was watching how everything would unfold.

 _So an inexperienced child is fighting against that mad dog, hm?_

His lips curled into a bemused smile.

 _Interesting. Show me what you can do in the face of the impossible, Child of Cuchulainn._

Meanwhile, Da Vinci eventually rested her hand upon the Bloodstone and murmured, "There's no choice. I'm going to have to use them…"

* * *

Connla was forced back toward the lake as Berserker took chase after her. Any time she tried to go around him, he would find some way to prevent her escape. For the insanity he had given in to, he still possessed enough tactical reason to discern that she was trying to flee from his watery arsenal, and he wasn't going to allow it by any means. He rushed into the bewildered Lancer's range and delivered a mighty kick against her stomach that sent her skidding across the grass.

Connla tumbled onto her side and moaned in sheer agony. She panned her eyes about and saw how hopeless the situation had become. She was caught between the lake and the forest, with Berserker blocking her only way out. The cursed water kept its aquatic weapons trained on her, ready to attack the moment she made any movement. The mad knight brandished two long sticks that he had mutated into dark spear-like objects, prepared to stab her to death with them.

 _This is it, isn't it?_

Connla's fear intensified, gripping her heart and chest with sheer anxiety. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the inevitable to happen. Her thoughts drifted away from the battle, and images of the various Cuchulainns she had met in Chaldea crossed her mind. The original Cuchulainn Lancer, whom she had fought against and died at his hands in her life; Cuchulainn Caster, the laid-back druid who taught her some new spells; Cuchulainn Prototype, the brotherly one who didn't want her to call him a father; and, especially of all, Cuchulainn Alter, who somehow showed her affection despite being a cold-hearted slaughterer to all others.

 _I was being so cold to him, but I truly have so much I want to talk with Father about… I guess Master will have to summon me again… But who knows when that might happen? I've heard the probabilities being absurdly low without a catalyst…_

She made peace with herself and waited for Berserker's onslaught. All she could hope for was that her death would be a painless one. However, and fortunately enough, her capitulation would wind up being unnecessary.

" _ **Urgh?"**_ Berserker yelped in a curious tone.

Connla felt some kind of power surge through her right hand, and she looked at the back to find the three Command Spells shining red through her glove. One by one, the sigils glowed brighter before fading, passing on their power to her.

"What's going on?" she wondered.

Da Vinci's voice cut in, "Are you okay?"

"I think so."

"Good. I've used the Bloodstone's Command Spells to give you a boost in strength and speed. Just relax and let their energy flow into you."

The young Servant gasped as the surge in mana healed her injuries and revitalized her. She had enough strength to stand back up, and she held her spear up high as her entire body glowed a beautifully pure white light, brightening up the darkness around them. Berserker snarled and tried to strike her with his dual weapons, but without any warning, he was sent flying back from a single powerful strike. A billowing gale prevented him from trying again, so he remained on alert and observed his opponent's magnificent transformation.

Connla felt so energized that she couldn't resist moving her feet to an elegant dance as she twirled her leaf-bladed spear about. Her entire form was covered in a familiar set of white armor and clothes – the same that she wore in her final battle against Curruid in the Nevada Singularity. Even her head was covered in an ivory wolf-themed helmet so she resembled a divine beast, concealing her appearance as a young child. Just like last time, she had Ascended into her third form in order to do battle with an opponent who was normally beyond her strength.

She finished with a striking pose, then faced Berserker and declared, "Hear me, unknown one. I admit that do not know what your intentions or motives are. Know this, however; I will defeat you with everything I have so that I may learn the truth from you. Prepare yourself."

" _ **Mrrgh…"**_ the man growled. He stared not necessarily at Connla, but at the light radiating from her armor. Nostalgia hit him as his mind wandered to his past. He remembered someone who shone just as wonderfully, and it deeply disturbed him. There was a king with blonde hair done in a French bun, donning a grand crown on their head, wearing superb blue clothes and polished silver armor, all draped beneath a deep blue royal cape. The king wielded a legendary sword that glowed as bright as a star. But the ruler's eyes were both fierce and distant, as if they were a god among humans who could not be touched, challenged, compared to, or even looked upon without awe.

In his memory, Berserker also saw _her_. Standing in the back, hidden in the shadow cast by the king's immense light, was a woman who was constantly ignored and lived a robotic life. As all of Britain turned their eyes toward their perfect king, they neglected the queen who constantly wept for the happiness she had to discard in order to play a role on the grand stage known as Camelot. It was that grief which attracted him to her, as he wanted to relieve the lady of her burden even just by a little bit, even if it meant risking his loyalty and kingdom for it.

Berserker hated it. He despised how the world enjoyed making her suffer for her entire life. That was why he manifested here – if he could undo Camelot before it ever got the chance to exist, perhaps he could rewrite Britain's history. He knew that everything started at this lake, so he intended to ruin it first before moving on to kill the current king and his subjects. The plan was perfect, so he never imagined that someone with a similar light to his king _and_ a similar sadness to his queen appeared from out of nowhere and stood in his way. Berserker didn't know which aspect of Connla to regard her as, and the confusion drove him further into madness.

 _Ar… thur…_

 _Guin… ne… vere…_

" _ **Mrr… UUR~RRGH… MWAAA~AAAAAA~AAAAA~AAAHHHH!"**_

Berserker met Connla's challenge with that roar, and they instantly dashed in toward each other. He thrust his cursed sticks at her, but she twirled aside on one foot and cleaved through them with strength she normally didn't possess. He commanded the watery arrows from the lake to fire at her relentlessly, and she ran about the place to avoid the countless projectiles. Berserker raised his hand to summon a long black sword with chains wrapped around the hilt. Unlike the hodge-podge of items he used as lesser Noble Phantasms, this was the only sword he could truly call his own. He realized that Connla was simply too fast to be caught by long-range weapons, so he opted to meet her in close combat instead.

Both white knight and dark knight clashed in an unholy dervish of movement and sparks. If anyone had been watching this fight, they would've been unnerved by the stark contrast between the short-statured girl in dazzling armaments going against the gaunt man in armor that was so dark that he nearly blended in with the blackness itself. One would expect the little girl to not stand a chance, but despite their difference in size, both warriors maintained an impressive stance against each other.

Connla grabbed Berserker's clenched fist as he tried to punch her, resisting with unexpected power from someone of her tiny build. He swung his sword upon her head at the same time she thrust her spear upwards to counter it. He attempted to kick her midsection, but she blocked his knee with her arm before snatching the kneepit and hurtling him aside, causing him to stumble back on the other heel. As he struggled to regain his balance, she pressed her hand against his breastplate and slapped an F-shaped Rune on it.

"Ansuz!" she called out, then immediately jumped back and left him to endure the brunt of a massive explosion of fire.

" _ **BWAAAHH!?"**_

Berserker hurtled across the air and smacked against a tree. Meanwhile, Connla wasted no time getting ready to use her Noble Phantasm. Her voice sounded older than usual as she chanted the words to activate it:

"Concealed identities. Blinking vignettes. Unsolved mysteries. Return from the void and be the wind that guides my nameless spear…"

She spun and raised her spear above her head, and numerous small lights representing the souls of forgotten heroes converged. With her as a medium, they could pass along their collective strength to her and transform her into a living weapon. The wind picked up so much that the aquatic weapons Berserker had ready in the lake were decimated beneath large waves. He tried to charge at her, but the storm was much too strong for him to go against.

" _ **Laoch Gan Finsceal!**_ "

In an instant, the young warrior disappeared in a flurry. Berserker yelped, stupefied by how fast she was moving. Leaves, grass, branches and rocks were instantly slashed with seemingly no one around to do the cutting.

 _SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!_

Connla turned into an imperceptible bullet of wind that grazed and smacked against Berserker dozens of times. She was so ridiculously fast that it was impossible for him to predict where she was going to strike next. He flailed and stumbled about clumsily, lurching his body about in random directions every time she struck him. Connla eventually ceased pummeling him and scraped the ground with her feet to come to a full stop. Then she thrust her fingers forth in a conjuring pattern and unleashed an angry battle yell.

Berserker looked down at his armor when he noticed multiple shining lights brightening up. Dozens of small F-shaped Runes glowed a vivid orange, gradually intensifying into a brilliant white. Before he could react, the Ansuz sigils Connla had secretly planted on him during her whirlwind frenzy detonated like dynamite. One by one, explosions of varying sizes rocked the dark knight about, destroying his armor and dissolving the black fog that surrounded him.

 _ **KA-BOO~OOM!**_

The final blast was the mightiest of them all, throwing Connla back from the surge of heat and carnage. She fell on her back and folded backwards like a jackknife before lying there. She didn't get up for a few minutes, thoroughly exhausted from using so much power at once. All she could do was listen as the last of the explosions died down into silence. She breathed heavily, feeling the urge to just close her eyes and go to sleep.

"Connla!" Da Vinci's voice echoed. "Are you okay!? Answer me!"

"Ms… Da Vinci… I'm so tired…"

"Don't pass out! Stay with me now!"

"Uuh…"

"Where's Berserker? Is he still around?"

"I don't know…"

Connla didn't want to move, but she forced herself to roll onto her side and sit back up. Her muscles screamed for respite, and blood poured from multiple sores that opened up during her intense battle rush. Her eyelids felt extremely heavy, not to mention her head and chest. Her Ascension lost its power, and her outfit reverted back to her usual adventurer's clothes.

Despite her immense fatigue, she noticed that the sky was beginning to brighten back up, returning the area to its proper mid-afternoon atmosphere. She looked over at the lake and found it to be crystal clear once again. The corrosion that Berserker had afflicted the water with was no more. The mad knight himself laid just several feet away from the lake's edge, his arms and legs splayed out in exhaustion.

"Guh…"

Connla's eyes shot wide open. Contrary to what she expected, Berserker was still alive, although severely weakened. He had expended so much mana just to withstand her flurry of fire spells that his form started to disintegrate. Even so, he somehow reached his hand out towards the little girl as if wanting to grasp her.

"Gui… ne…"

Da Vinci wondered, "Hm? What's going on?"

Although it went against common sense, Connla crawled up to the black knight and kneeled next to him. She figured that since he was returning to the Throne of Heroes, she wouldn't be in any danger of a surprise attack from him. Berserker finally put his trembling hand on her head and rubbed it.

"Gui… ne… vere…"

"Guinevere?" Connla murmured. "Who is that?"

"Oh!" Da Vinci let out a sudden gasp of realization. "There's only one famous Guinevere in the world; the Queen of Britain who married King Arthur and had an affair with Sir Lancelot!"

"Ooohhh…" Berserker painfully moaned when he heard those words. "Guu~uui… neeehh… vee~eere…"

His mask dissolved into dark particles, revealing his phantom-like emaciated face and jagged teeth. His horrid eyes remained fixed on Connla as he dug his fingers into her hair. She stammered, "I-I… I'm not…"

"Guuuh…"

"Um, Ms. Da Vinci? What's going on here? Who is he and why is he mistaking me for someone else?"

The inventor hummed while pondering the situation. Then she said, "About his identity, that sword he wielded was Arondight, so it must be Sir Lancelot."

"You mean the man who would be raised here by the Lady of the Lake?"

"Yeah. If he's really Lancelot, then we have to think of his connection with Guinevere. She married King Arthur for political reasons – that is to say, they wanted to uphold the image of a perfect kingdom when it was actually far from that. The King and Queen were pretty much putting on a grand act for the populace at the expense of their happiness and freedom as individuals. I heard stories of Guinevere never being happy, and always weeping in her room on a daily basis while being forced to bear a queenly attitude for the people. She lost her right to be a human being, reduced to the mechanical role of an ideal ruler."

"…"

"That must be where Lancelot comes in, wanting to be the dutiful knight who saves his queen from her constant sorrow. But he is also loyal to King Arthur, so having an affair with Guinevere would tarnish his honor. Yet if he ignores Guinevere, he'll also feel responsible for allowing her to suffer. Despite his conflicted feelings, he pursues the affair anyway. They keep it secret for a while, but then usurpers of the throne reveal their relationship and paint it as a treacherous picture. Lancelot flees to France, leaving Guinevere alone to feel like she has to shoulder the entire world's guilt, while words like 'unchaste wife', 'royal whore', and 'treacherous queen' are constantly shouted into her ears. In the end, she's given the death sentence for her betrayal against King Arthur."

Connla couldn't believe what she was hearing. It felt ridiculous that Berserker was mistaking her for such a tragic figure in his life. She uttered, "All that suffering, just to put on a show for the people?"

"Upholding the image of a perfect kingdom was very important in the days of Camelot. They valued their ideals far more than even their humanity."

"That's insane… Camelot sounded like a nightmare for the royals."

"Ooouuugh-!" Berserker moaned, visibly reacting to Connla's harsh assessment of the kingdom he once lived in. He stopped rubbing her head and lowered his hand so he could grab hers. He kept crying out incessantly, "Guinevere… Guine… vere…!"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not your queen," she tried to reason with him. "This is all a big mistake. I'm just an adventurer from Ireland's folklore. I don't have anything to do with-"

"Guuuuu…" Even though he heard what she was saying, he refused to let her go.

"Um… I'm not…"

Da Vinci paused for a few moments, then muttered, "I don't mean to make such an understatement, but this is getting to be beyond awkward."

"Please do something, Ms. Da Vinci. I have no idea what to say to him."

"Then we need to think outside the box. Why _would_ Berserker confuse you for Guinevere? It must be because you two have something very much in common."

"Like what?"

"Well," the inventor pondered. "By process of elimination, you're not a queen, you never married a king, and you're too young to be in a romantic relationship. The only other notable trait about her… is that she was always depressed."

"Depressed?" Connla murmured in surprise. Once Da Vinci said that, Berserker's unusual actions finally started to make perfect sense. There really wasn't much need to elaborate beyond that.

"You haven't been yourself ever since you went with Medb to confront the wraiths in Aberdour Caves. Ritsuka, Roman and the Servants have been telling me how distant you always look, and that you never want to talk with anyone."

"Mm… I guess so…" the girl murmured sadly, recalling the many insults that Aife screamed at her. "It always feels like I have a weight in my chest. I don't know what to do to get rid of it, but I'm afraid of talking with someone about it because they might turn around and do the same thing Mother did. Is this what Guinevere felt like all the time? Unable to confide in anyone, forced to endure her grief all by herself?"

"I would think so."

"What a horrible way to live…"

"No kidding," Da Vinci murmured. "If I were to put myself in Berserker's shoes right now, I think he understands that you're not Guinevere, but he sees the uncanny resemblance between her sorrow and yours, so he wants to say something about it. Maybe that's why he was compelled to fight you in the first place."

"You think so?" Connla whispered, then faced Berserker.

"The same… The same… face…" he moaned. "The same… tears… Must… stop them… I must… stop them…"

"What do you mean 'stop them'?"

"Destroy… myself. Destroy… my history. Then… the Queen… would never… meet me…"

"So you were trying to cause a Singularity so you could overwrite your tragic history?"

"Uuuh…"

She shook her head and exclaimed, "That's not right! Even if the world thinks you're a sinful person, you followed your heart by being beside Lady Guinevere in her time of need. If you didn't do that, wouldn't you come to regret your inaction instead? No matter which choice you made, you would have had a tragic outcome either way. You picked the path that you could look back on with confidence, didn't you?"

"…"

"I may not know you very well, but I can tell you're not the type of person to abandon others when you see them suffering. I could sense during our battle that you're an amazing knight. Even though you're under Madness Enhancement, your tactical skills and quick thinking shone through. You were the perfect knight for this country. It's just that… the world treated you so poorly. Not just you; it was unfair to both of us. My own family abused me under the guise of love. I was so stupid for not noticing it sooner, but that doesn't mean I'm going to jeopardize this world's future just to rewrite my past. It is what it is, and I need to figure out how to move on from it.

"That's why… I was crying here," Connla looked away sadly and wiped her eyes. "I wanted some quiet time to reflect on my future. If I throw away everything I know and believe, I'm literally at nothing. I guess I'm just really confused right now."

Berserker listened to her grievances without saying a word. He thought about Guinevere, always sobbing alone in her quarters. Everything else – his King, his country, his betrayal, his downfall – felt so distant as he remembered the first time he discovered his Queen's inconsolable grief, and pondering what he could do to give her some modicum of happiness. He thought about what Connla said about making the decision he could feel most content with. Given his original personality, he couldn't think of doing anything other than having the affair with Guinevere. He desired to give her the chance to be a proper woman who fell in love with a man, not with a woman pretending to be a man as King Arthur was.

Berserker looked at Connla with an empty gaze. He didn't know who this strange child was, but he understood that she too had not been allowed to live as a proper girl. He believed that no minor should have to fight like a soldier of his caliber, yet he had been baffled by her honed skills and spontaneous strategizing during their battle. Everything about her was so out of line with what he knew.

But unlike with Guinevere, Berserker saw something different about Connla. With his Queen, her life was determined by others from birth to death, and it brought upon pangs of hopelessness. With Connla however, he saw tremendous potential in her. She had broken free of the cruelty that her 'family' had oppressed her with, and now she needed to find a new path to follow. A sense of hope welled in Berserker that restored a shred of his sanity.

He clutched her hand tighter, and whispered his last words:

"Don't cry. You can… start over…"

With that, he finally disappeared. Connla remained kneeling there, concentrating on her breathing so she wouldn't pass out. She looked up at the blue sky, believing that was where he went.

"It won't be easy. But I'll try my hardest so you won't be reminded of Lady Guinevere's crying face again."


	7. Descent Into Another Domain

**FATE/OUTSIDE EXPERIENCE**

 **Epilogue: Descent Into Another Domain**

Connla rested for a short bit before finding the Leyline to establish the summoning circle. Once she was finished, Da Vinci called her back to Chaldea, and she warped through the tunnel of blue light. She opened her eyes and finally saw the crowd that had gathered around, which somewhat surprised her. She had only heard Da Vinci's voice the entire time, but Roman, Ritsuka, Mash, Cuchulainn Lancer, Medb, and other staff and Servants were present to welcome her home.

Medb gasped and exclaimed in a girly voice, "Connie! Oh, sweetie, you're finally back!"

Connla had such a terrible headache that she couldn't respond right away. The stress from withstanding Berserker's attacks plus unleashing her Noble Phantasm completely drained her energy.

"Connie? Are you okay?" the queen asked worriedly. "You look like a zombie…"

She no longer had any strength to move, and she fell forward. Cuchulainn immediately caught her before she could hit the floor, and he picked her up. Already she was fast sleep and lightly snoring.

"Geez… Why must you do such reckless things all the time?" he grumbled.

"This is all my fault," Da Vinci frowned. "I shouldn't have let her go to an unknown timeline on her own."

"Alter's gonna have a word or two with you about this, y'know."

"I believe it. Well, guess I better prepare myself for a right royal thrashing from Papa Wolf, hm?"

"You make it sound like getting him upset is no big deal," Cuchulainn glared at her wryly. "Don't blame me if you wind up with a few cuts and bruises afterwards. Heaven knows what my 'darker side' is capable of when he's really angry."

"Thanks for the kind warning."

Medb implored, "I'll come with you, Cu!"

"No way," he retorted sharply. "The last thing we need is your squealing waking Connla up."

"Aww… Oh well. Guess a girl needs her beauty sleep, hm?"

He scoffed at her and carried Connla back to her room, where he laid her on the bed and healed some of her injuries with his Runes. He changed her into her nightgown, finally getting to see the old scars that Alter was talking about earlier.

 _How terrible… No wonder he was so mad at me._

His heart felt like it was going to be torn asunder with guilt, but he kept himself in check and focused his energy on healing her current injuries before covering her with sheets and blankets. She didn't even so much as stir - if he didn't know better, he would have mistaken her for a corpse. He sat next to her bed for the next hour to make sure no more wounds opened up before feeling confident enough to leave her be.

 _Man, it's worse than I thought. She'll definitely be in a coma for the next while,_ he thought as he turned the light off and left. _Well, at least she won't go running off and causing headaches for me and the other Cus._

As he headed back to his room however, the fatigued Lancer turned the corner and came across another Servant who was leaning against the wall. Cuchulainn immediately recognized him and scowled a little, but remained professional and quietly demanded, "What do you want?"

"Nothing from you, cur."

"Guess that's a blessing in disguise. But I've noticed you've been hanging around the place lately. Aren't you the type to coop yourself in your room and get plastered on fine wine all the time?"

"Who do you take me for, some kind of commonplace drunk? You'd do well to not compare me to yourself, Hound of Ulster."

"Feh. Like I give a shit. So what's the deal with the wallflowering? You looking for your next victim's suffering to satisfy your demented jollies?"

The armored man suppressed a hearty chuckle. "Well, I have to admit that the child's display was rather entertaining."

"Hey… That's not funny."

"Why not? Because she's your daughter? Or because she is foolish enough to not know her place in the hierarchy of us Servants?"

"Today was an accident," Cuchulainn retorted. "She's not stupid enough to go looking for fights she can't win. Not until I put her through the gamut with my rigorous training regime, anyway."

"That might not be enough," the man replied coolly. "Stick her in the training room all you want – it'll all be pointless if she doesn't understand what it's like to live as a proper human being. She's trapped beneath your overblown shadow, always fighting and surviving by virtue of being your one and only scion."

The blue-garbed Lancer scowled and exclaimed, "You think I don't know that!? Aife is the one who forced her to grow up too fast! It was all part of her plan to get back at me for defeating her so long ago! How else am I supposed to help Connla besides training her in the art of battle!?"

"Hmm…"

The unseen Servant turned his gaze toward the angry spearman and smirked a little.

"Perhaps what she needs is a light to guide her out of the darkness you cast over her. No light is as brilliant as gold, and no gold is as majestic as mine."

"… What are you trying to say?" Cuchulainn snarled. "What do you intend to do with my daughter?"

"Nothing, for now. She's still much too clueless of a whelp to be of any service to me. All I want to see is whether or not she will improve. If she can break out of the pitfall that her own family pushed her into, that is when she will be worthy of my attention."

"So you're just watching her?"

"Indeed. Nothing tires me more than a damsel who has the power to break free of her constraints, but refuses to do so."

Cuchulainn sighed, relieved that the other man didn't have terribly sinister plans for Connla. What the other Servant's real intentions were remained uncertain at this point though, which made him feel rather wary. Still, he had to remember that they were all Servants summoned under the same Master, and the primary rule that Ritsuka imposed upon them was to not be hostile toward each other regardless of their personal histories. They all shared the same goal of saving humanity's history, so any form of partnerships or collusions would have to benefit Chaldea's goal. Although Cuchulainn didn't like the other Servant whatsoever, he had confidence that the man's machinations would not endanger Connla's life in the end.

"Fine," he relented. "If there's anything you can do to help her, then knock yourself out. But if you're just looking to make her your doormat, then there will be problems. Aife already treated her like garbage by putting those three geasa on her, among other things…" he trailed off while thinking of her scars. "The last thing I need is someone else carrying that woman's torch."

"Hmph. I am not so low as to behave like that wench. Unlike her, I reward my vassals for their hard work. Fear not; if your child proves herself, then she will be deserving of being among my ranks, and the perks for serving me are quite substantial."

Cuchulainn raised an eyebrow. It sounded like the other Servant knew more about Aife's poor treatment of Connla than even he did. It mystified him - what was prompting this arrogant bastard to observe Connla anyway? She wasn't exactly one of the strongest Servants around, and she was too young to fight the more intense battles that the adults could survive. She still needed plenty of time to train and grow before she was ready to join the big leagues with him. What did the other Servant see in her even though she was just a trainee? The Lancer's lips thinned into a pensive line, but he said nothing more and left the unseen fellow alone.

 _At the very least, I should warn the other Cus about this._

* * *

In her dark bedchamber, Connla remained fast asleep. No sort of outside noise or disturbance would stir her awake. The doors to her room slid open and Cuchulainn Alter walked in, swaying his long spiked tail about as he approached the bed and observed the child. He placed his hand on her forehead and felt how high her temperature was. He frowned and grumbled lightly.

 _I know it's only been a day since then, but this is getting serious._

He pushed on the intercom button and said, "Hey, Roman. You there?"

A male's voice responded, _"Is that you, Cu Alter?"_

"If you've got a moment, then get your butt in here. Connla's got a terrible fever."

" _That's strange… I didn't think Servants were capable of getting sick."_

"Well believe it now. I don't know what's going on either, but she's been getting worse ever since she fought that Berserker. It might be because her body is not developed enough to handle such stress, so it breaks down anytime she uses her abilities. Or maybe she caught something weird while in that era."

" _All right, I'll be over there."_

Cuchulainn cut the connection, then sat next to Connla's bed and waited for the doctor to arrive. He took a damp cloth and wiped her face clean of sweat. News spread quickly of her deadly battle against the Berserker in early Camelot, and it didn't take long for him to hear what happened to his daughter while he was away on an unrelated mission. Although the other Cuchulainns were displeased with Da Vinci for allowing Connla to venture out alone, he was especially furious - it actually took two of Ritsuka's Command Spells plus some fellow Servants restraining him to prevent him from killing the inventor.

After cooling down, he refused to leave Connla's bedside until she woke up and he gave her a stern lecture. He wouldn't even go out on missions with Ritsuka and Mash while the child Servant was recovering, and he barred anyone save Dr. Roman from seeing her. He made no attempt to wake her up by force though; her injuries were so substantial that he understood she just needed plenty of rest.

What he didn't know was that it wasn't just difficult to wake her up – it would be downright impossible for now.

While her body was present in Chaldea, some kind of external force had taken hold of her mind and was dragging her subconsciousness somewhere far, far away. As she dove through the phantasmagorical world of dreams and alternate realities, she could see beautiful dolphins and fish swimming by. She continued sinking, sinking, sinking, until she reached some strange destination, and the darkness opened up like a pair of eyes to let in the light.

 _Where… is this?_

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yay, another one done! This one was a bit shorter than LGF since I wanted to transition from that to the next big epic following this. Not much else to say other than to look forward to what's coming up. As per usual, if you have any comments, suggestions or questions, feel free to send a private message to me, a review for the story, or send me a tweet benit149 (more likely to see it that way). See you in the next story!

\- Benit149, 2018


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